BV  2060  .J6  1909 

Johnson,  Thomas  Gary,  1859- 

1936. 
Introduction  to  Christian 


rm  c  c  n  r\-n  c: 


INTRODUCTION 


CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 


BY  ^ 

THOMAS  GARY  JOHNSON, 

Author  of  "  The  Life  and  Letters  of  Robert  Lewis  Dabney ;''''  "  The  Life  and 

Letters  of  Benjamin  Morgan  Palmer  :^^  ••John  Calvin  and  the  Genevan 

Reformation;"  "  The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  .-^ 

"  I'irginia  Presbyterianisni  and  Religious  Liberty.^'' 


OR  Sale  by  the 
PRESBYTERIAN  COMMITTEE  OF  PUBLICATION, 

Richmond,  Va.        Texarkana,  Ark. -Texas. 


Copyright,  1909, 

BY 

THOS.  C.  JOHNSON. 


Printed  by 

Whittkt  &  Shepperson, 

Richmond,  Va. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DEDICATED  TO 

MY  WIFE, 

WHOSE  HELPFUL  SYMPATHY  DESERVES 

A  BETTER  TRIBUTE. 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


For  years  the  author  had  been  conducting  a  brief 
study  of  Christian  missions,  using  such  text-books  as  had 
been  available.  He  had  given  lectures  supplementary  to 
the  text-books  he  at  the  time  was  using.  His  lectures  had 
grown  in  volume,  till  he  found  little  time  for  interlocutory 
study  with  the  class  after  delivering  them.  These  lec- 
tures had  all  along  been  informed  by  a  unifying  principle 
— the  relation  of  the  mental  grasp  of  the  Christian  system 
to  mission  work.  He  had  been  asked  repeatedly  to  publish 
them.  Two  years  ago  he  began  to  rewrite  those  bearing 
on  world-wide  missions,  as  opportunity  was  given;  and 
now  ofifers  these  to  the  Christian  public,  and  particularly 
to  the  ministers,  elders,  deacons  and  brotherhood-workers 
of  his  own  communion. 

It  will  be  found  that  they  constitute  an  attempt  at  a 
philosophy  of  missions ;  and,  it  is  hoped,  that  they  contain 
a  relatively  small  amount  of  unessential  detail.  It  has 
been  a  constant  aim,  at  any  rate,  to  burden  the  memory 
only  with  the  essential  facts ;  but  to  stir  the  thought.  In 
a  word,  the  aim  has  been  to  introduce  to  the  proper  study 
of  missions. 

T.  C.  J. 
Union  Theological  Seminary, 
Richmond,  Va. 


CONTENTS. 


LECTURE  I. 


God's  Ordained  Missionary  Society ;  its  Members ;  Their 
Obligations  as  Such;  and  the  Imperative  and  Exclusive 
Nature  of  Those  Obligations 9 

LECTURE  IL 

The    New    Testament    Principle    to    Regulate    the    Church's 

Missionary  Effort;  and  Certain  Corollaries  Therefrom..     30 

LECTURE  in. 

Paul's  Sense  of  His  Obligation  to  Missions  and  the  Way  in 
Which  He  Responded   to   It 53 

LECTURE  IV. 

Patristic  Missions:  Or  Christian  Missions  from  100  to  590; 
and  Nestorian  Missions 70 

LECTURE  V. 
Mediaeval  Missions,  590  to   1517.     Raymund  Lull 90 

LECTURE  VI. 

Erasmus'  Missionary  Ideals.     Roman  Catholic  Missions,  1517 

to   the    Present    106 

LECTURE  VII. 

The    Attitude    of    the    Protestant    and    Reformed    Churches 

Toward  Missions,  1517  to  1781 128 


15  CONTENTS. 

LECTURE  VIII. 

The  Age  of  Voluntary  Protestant  Missionary  Societies,  1781 
to   1829   154 

LECTURE  IX. 

The  Church  Becoming  Conscious  of  Itself  as  a  Missionary 

Society.    1829   to   the   Present 171 

LECTURE  X. 
Some  Motives  to  Missionary  Endeavor 194 


INTRODUCTION  TO 

CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS. 


LECTURE   I. 


God's  Ordained  Missionary  Society;  Its  Members; 
Their  Obligations  as  Such;  and  the  Im- 
perative AND  Exclusive  Nature  of  Those 
Obligations. 

In  the  treatment  of  this  subject,  our  first  contention 
shall  be  that,  in  ordaining  the  constitution  of  the  Church, 
God  made  it  a  missionary  society ;  our  second,  that  every 
member  of  the  Church,  in  virtue  of  his  Church  member- 
ship, is  a  member  of  this  missionary  society  and  stands 
pledged  to  do  his  utmost  as  such;  and  our  third,  that 
the  obligation  to  fulfill  this  pledge  is  imperative  and 
exclusive. 

These  contentions  are  as  old  as  the  Bible.  They  have 
been  coming  more  and  more  fully  into  the  consciousness 
of  choice  spirits  of  the  Church  during  the  last  four-score 
years;  but  they  have  not  yet  attained  the  recognition 
which  their  importance  and  the  large  place  given  them 
in  Holy  Writ  demand. 

Time  would  fail  us  to  cite  the  many  scriptures  which, 
directly  or  indirectly,  support  one,  or  other,  of  the  con- 


10  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

tentions.  Accordingly,  we  shall  endeavor  to  cite  only 
some  of  the  more  typical  passages,  on  which  they  may 
be  rested  severally. 

Our  first  contention  is'  that  God,  in  ordaining  the 
Church,  made  it  a  missionary  society. 

In  support  of  this,  we  point,  in  the  first  place,  to  the 
Ahrahamic  covenant,  zvhich  zvas  of  zvorJd-wide  mission- 
ary import. 

In  the  original  form  of  this  covenant,  God  said  to 
the  "father  of  the  faithful,"  "and  in  thee  shall  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  be  blessed"  (Gen.  xii.  3).  In  a 
subsequent  form  God  said,  "For  a  father  of  many  nations 
have  I  made  thee"  (Gen.  xvii.  5).  This'  promise,  Paul 
teaches  us,  was  made  good  to  Abraham  in  his  becoming 
the  father  of  all  them  that  believe,  whether  they  be  cir- 
cumcised or  not;  that  is,  in  his  becoming  father  to  both 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  so  far  as  they  should  believe  (Rom. 
iv.  II,  12),  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

According,  therefore,  to  the  terms'  of  the  Abrahamic 
covenant,  the  Church  of  God  was  missionary,  as  estab- 
lished in  the  family  of  the  father  of  the  faithful.  The 
Church  covenant,  made  with  Abraham  and  his  seed  after 
him  (Gen.  xvii.  7,  8),  looked  to  Abraham's  becoming 
"the  father  of  many  nations."  It  looked  to  all  earth's 
families  being  "blessed  in  him." 

But  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  on  the  basis'  of  which 
the  Church  was  established  in  the  family  of  the  Patriarch, 
remains  the  fundamental  Church  covenant  in  every  sub- 
sequent time.  According  to  the  teaching  of  Paul  in  the 
third  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  it  was  not 
annulled  on  the  introduction  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation ; 
nor  on  the  passing  away  of  that  dispensation ;  but  re- 
mains in   force  under  the  Christian  dispensation    (Gal. 


God's  Ordained  Missionary  Society  ii 

iii.  17).  Hence  Paul  also  taught  that  the"  Church  was 
one  and  the  same  under  both  the  Mosaic  and  the  Chris- 
tian dispensations.  He  taught  that  the  old  good  olive 
tree  had  been  the  same  throughout  the  ages'.  In  his  day 
branches  from  the  wild  olive  tree  were  being  grafted  into 
the  good  olive  tree  (Rom.  xi.  17,  ff.),  The  Church  of 
the  New  Testament  was  no  new  Church.  It  was  the 
old  olive  tree  with  some  new  limbs  inserted. 

Now,  the  Abrahamic  covenant  being  fundamentally 
missionary  and  that  covenant  remaining  the  basal  Church 
covenant  under  the  new  dispensation,  the  New  Testa- 
ment Church  must  be  conceived  to  have  the  same  mis- 
sionary character  as  the  Abrahamic.  The  primal  cove- 
nant on  which  the  Church  was  founded  and  on  which 
it  has  stood  to  this  day,  is  of  world-wide  missionary 
import.  The  Church  of  the  Christian  dispensation, 
informed  as  it  is  by  the  principles  of  the  Abrahamic 
covenant,  must  be  regarded  as  ordained  a  missionary 
society,  of  God ;  and  it  must  be  clear  that  he  has  never 
looked  upon  it  as  destined  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  any 
one  people,  or  to  any  group  of  peoples,  merely ;  in  this 
original  covenant,  God  showed  that  he  intended  his  re- 
ligion for  all  peoples'  and  for  every  individual  of  them, 
who  should  accept  it.  TJic  Church  of  our  dispensation, 
then,  is  a  missionary  society  by  the  ordination  of  God, 
as  revealed  in  the  Abrahamic  covenant. 

In  support  of  the  contention  that  in  ordaining  the 
constitution  of  the  Church,  God  made  it  a  missionary 
society,  we  point,  in  the  second  place,  to  the  missionary 
feature  of  even  the  particidaristic  and  separatist  Mosaic 
dispensation. 

The  Church  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation  is  spoken  of. 
often,  and  regarded,  as  non-missionary;  and,  it  is  readily 


12  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

conceded  that  active  and  wide-spread  propagandist  ef- 
fort was  neither  a  constant  nor  the  most  conspicuous 
characteristic  of  the  Hfe  of  the  Mosaic  Church.  The 
peculiar,  preparatory  work  assigned  the  Church  under 
that  regime, ^wsis,  perhaps,  incompatible  with  large  mis- 
sionary work  in  the  field ;  but  we  may  easily  overrate  the 
non-missionary  aspect  of  the  dispensation.  It  really  had 
a  missionary  feature,  as  the  following  facts  show: 

Fact  One. — The  Mosaic  legislation  prepared  for  the 
work  of  making  proselytes'  and  encouraged  it.  See 
Exodus  xii.  48;  Numbers  ix.  14;  xv.  15.  The  latter 
passages  read:  ''And  if  a  stranger  shall  sojourn  among 
you,  and  will  keep  the  passover  unto  the  Lord,  accord- 
ing to  the  ordinance  of  the  passover,  and  according  to 
the  manner  thereof,  so  shall  he  do :  ye  shall  have  one  or- 
dinance both  for  the  stranger,  and  for  him  that  was  born 
in  the  land."  ''One  ordinance  shall  be  both  for  you  of  the 
congregation,  and  also  for  the  stranger  that  sojourneth 
with  you,  an  ordinance  forever  in  your  generations;  As 
ye  are,  so  shall  the  stranger  be  before  the  Lord.  One 
law  and  one  manner  shall  be  for  you,  and  for  the  stranger 
that  sojourneth  with  you." 

Thus  did  the  Mosaic  law  prepare  for  and  encourage 
proselyting — an  enterprise  of  a  missionary  character. 

Fact  Tzvo. — That  the  Church  of  the  Mosaic  dispensa- 
tion had  a  missionary  feature  is  indicated  by  the  Episode 
of  Jonah.  The  mission  of  Jonah  to  the  people  of  Nine- 
veh, in  its  purpose,  was  generically  like  the  missionary 
work  of  the  Church  of  other  ages'.  '  The  object  of  Jonah's 
mission  was  the  glory  of  God  in  the  salvation  of  men. 
Nor  is  there  any  reason  for  supposing  that  the  salvation 
desired  was  only  temporal. 

This  story  of  Jonah  is  a  true  episode  in  the  Mosaic 


God's  Ordained  Missionary  Society  13 

economy.  While  more  distinctly  missionary  than  the 
history  as  a  whole,  it  is  not  at  all  unnatural  in  its  place. 
On  the  contrar}^,  it  comes  in  naturally  and  so  points  to 
the  missionary  character  of  the  whole  economy,  while 
standing  in  contrast  with  the  rest  as  especially  missionary. 

Fact  Three. — The  prophets  and  Psalmists  of  the 
Mosaic  dispensation  are  found  holding  aloft  the  mission- 
ary ideal  of  the  Church. 

This  appears  in  the  prophecies  of  the  Messiah  and 
his  kingdom,  e.  g.,  it  appears  in  the  second,  forty-fifth, 
seventy-second,  and  one  hundred  and  tenth  Psalms,  in 
the  last  twenty-seven  chapters  of  Isaiah,  and  in  other 
prophecies ;  it  appears  also  in  prophetic  prayers  like  that 
of  Solomon  (i  Kings  viii.  41,  fif.)  :  the  second  Psalm 
grounds  the  prevalence  of  the  kingdom  in  the  Divine  de- 
cree and  in  the  heirship  of  the  Son  to  the  whole  earth. 
The  forty-fifth  Psalm  celebrates  in  triumphant  strain  the 
introduction  of  the  heathen  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
The  seventy-second  Psalm  prays  for  the  coming  of  a 
greater  King  than  Solomon,  for  the  coming  of  the  Prince 
of  Peace,  the  righteous  Defender  of  the  Poor  and  the 
King  to  whom  all  kings  and  people  shall  do  homage.  It 
predicts  of  Him  the  blessing  promised  the  father  of  the 
faithful  in  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  "Men  shall  be 
blessed  in  him,  and  all  men  shall  call  Him  blessed,"  and 
concludes  with  a  doxology  of  vast  evangelical  richness, 
"Blessed  be  His  glorious  name  forever  and  ever:  and 
let  the  whole  earth  be  filled  with  His  glory.  Amen  and 
Amen."  The  one  hundred  and  tenth  Psalm  predicts  the 
final  subjugation  of  the  heathen  by  the  King  Christ, 
ascribing,  in  the  most  solemn  manner  to  him  the  con- 
junction of  eternal  priesthood.  The  missionary  import 
of  the  latter  portion  of  Isaiah  has  inspired  scores  and, 


14  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

perhaps,  thousands  of  missionaries.  William  Carey,  in 
the  years  when  he  had  no  convert,  stayed  himself  on 
Isa.  li.  2,  "Look  unto  Abraham,  your  father,  and  unto 
Sarah  that  bare  you :  For  I  called  him  and  blessed  him, 
and  increased  him."  In  Isa.  ii.  2,  we  read,  "And  it  shall 
come  to  pass  in  the  last  days, "that  the  mountain  of  the 
Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tains, and  shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills ;  and  all  the 
nations  shall  flow  into  it."  In  Micah  iv.  i,  2,  "But  in  the 
last  days  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  the  mountain  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord  shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the 
mountains,  and  it  shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills  and 
people  shall  flow  unto  it.  And  many  nations  shall  come 
and  say,  Come,  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord, 
and  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob :  and  he  will  teach 
us  of  his  ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  his  paths:  for  the 
law  shall  go  forth  of  Zion  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from 
Jerusalem."  In  Zechariah,  viii.  22-23,  "Yea,  many  people 
and  strong  nations  shall  come  to  seek  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
in  Jerusalem,  and  to  pray  before  the  Lord.  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  of  Hosts.  In  those  days  it  shall  come  to  pass 
that  ten  men  shall  take  hold  out  of  all  languages  of  the 
nations,  even  shall  take  hold  of  the  skirt  of  him  that  is 
a  Jew,  saying,  We  will  go  with  you ;  for  we  have  heard 
that  God  is  with  you."  It  was  the  manner  of  the  prophets 
to  speak  in  terms  of  the  past  and  present  when  portray- 
ing the  future.  Hence  in  setting  forth  the  enlargement 
of  the  Church  they  suggest  to  the  superficial  the  continu- 
ance and  growth  of  the  Mosaic  economy.  But  to  a  pro- 
founder  insight  these  predictions  involve  the  doing  away 
of  that  economy  with  its  burdensome  and  hobbling  cere- 
monial and  the  growth  of  the  institution  on  which  it  had 
been  superimposed.     The  seer  Daniel  saw  that  the  God 


God's  Ordained  Missionary  Society  15 

of  Heaven  would  set  up  a  kingdom  which  should  never 
be  destroyed,  and  which  should  not  be  left  to  other  people, 
but  should  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  the  other 
kingdoms  and  stand  forever;  for  as  much  as  Nebuchad- 
nezzar had  seen  a  stone  cut  without  hands  from  the 
mountains,  breaking  in  pieces  all  that  opposed,  and  grow- 
ing into  a  great  mountain  and  filling  "the  whole  earth." 
The  wise  man  prayed  "Hear  Thou  in  Heaven  Thy  dwell- 
ing place  and  do  according  to  all  that  the  stranger  calleth 
to  Thee  for;  that  all  peoples  of  the  earth  may  know 
Thy  name  to  fear  Thee."  Jehovah  answered,  *T  have 
heard  thy  prayer  and  thy  supplication  that  thou  hast 
made  before  me"  (i  Kings  viii.  41,  ff.).  In  teaching  that 
the  Church  shall  share  her  truth  with  all  the  families  of 
the  earth ;  that  she  is  to  become  universal,  they  proclaim 
her  essentially  missionary  character.  For  how  shall  the 
peoples  hear  without  a  preacher  and  how  shall  they  have 
a  preacher  except  he  be  sent? 

Fact  Four. — The  history  of  the  Church  in  the  Mosaic 
form  shows  that  it  had  a  missionary  feature. 

In  the  days  of  David  and  Solomon  the  kingdom  was 
enlarged  by  the  extension  of  the  theocratic  rule  to  cer- 
tain heathen  nations ;  so  that  the  prophet  Amos,  looking 
from  his  later  standing  point  to  one  future  to  himself 
could  say,  as  the  Lord's  mouthpiece,  "In  that  day,  will 
I  raise  up  the  tabernacle  of  David  that  is  fallen,  and 
close  up  the  breaches  thereof;  and  I  will  raise  up  his 
ruins ;  and  I  will  build  it  as  in  the  days  of  old :  That  they 
may  possess  the  remnant  of  Edom,  and  of  all  the  heathen, 
which  are  called  by  thy  name"  (Amos  ix.  11,  12).  The 
later  history  of  Israel  saw  nations  brought  into  the  theo- 
cracy, and  in  accord  with  the  Divine  will,  which  earlier 
had  been  excluded  therefrom    (Deuteronomy  xxiii.  4). 


i6  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

Not  only  so,  history  shows  that  women,  Rahab  and  Ruth, 
originally  heathen,  were  placed  by  Him  who  controlleth 
all  events  in  the  covenant  line  of  whom  Christ  came;  as  if 
to  mark  its  everlasting  universality  as  well  as  temporary 
particularism. 

That  the  history  of  the  Church  in  the  Mosaic  form 
shows  that  it  had  a  missionary  character  finds  forceful 
illustrative  proof  in  the  Synagogues  of  the  Dispersion, 
previous  to  the  coming  of  Christ.  These  were  so  many 
mission  centers  in  effect.  They  had  gathered  about  them 
many  devout  souls  who  waited  for  the  kingdom  of  God. 
They  had  preached  and  thrilled  to  their  depths  these 
nobler  heathen,  with  their  lofty,  monotheistic  doctrine  of 
God;  had  taught  them  that  God  is  one,  all-wise  and 
powerful,  the  creator,  the  upholder,  the  governor,  of 
all  things, — an  infinite  spirit,  just  and  loving,  merciful 
and  gracious.  They  had  set  forth  the  doctrine  of  a 
future  estate  of  rewards  and  punishments, — the  happi- 
ness of  the  true  servants  of  God  and  the  misery  of  those 
who  should  continue  to  walk  in  the  ways  of  the  wicked. 
They  had  inculcated  the  propriety  and  the  obligation  of 
being  humble  and  penitent  in  heart,  pure,  true  and  faith- 
ful in  life. 

Not  a  few  of  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion  seem  to 
have  been  moved  with  great  zeal  in  their  missionary 
efforts.  To  win  converts,  they  employed  all  forms  of 
literary  endeavor.  They  translated  their  Scriptures. 
They  wrote  commentaries  on  the  Scriptures.  They  pro- 
duced philosophical  works  in  which  they  tried  to  trace 
the  great  classic  systems  of  philosophy  to  the  teachings 
of  Moses  as  their  ultimate  source.  They  exhibited  and 
exulted  in  their  history  as  showing  the  hand  of  God. 
They  boasted  of  the  venerable  age  of  their  nation  and 
of  its  faith. 


God's  Ordained  Missionary  Society  17 

While  some  of  the  methods  of  the  missionaries  of  the 
Dispersion  were  wrong,  the  teaching  proper  to  the  Syna- 
gogue had,  and  was'  designed  to  have,  a  vast  influence  on 
the  heathen.  It  was  God's  way  of  bringing  His  truth 
to  the  knowledge  of  vast  numbers  of  His  elect  among 
the  nations.  The  synagogue  system  amongst  the  Disper- 
sion was  in  practical  effect  a  missionary  system  to  the 
peoples  amongst  whom  the  dispersed  Jews  sojourned ; 
and  they  were  found  in  considerable  numbers,  widely 
scattered  throughout  the  empire. 

Nevertheless,  the  Church,  in  the  Mosaic  dispensation, 
was  in  the  chrysalis  or  pupa  state, — in  an  immature 
stage  of  development ;  and  to  it  was  assigned  a  peculiar 
task  which  in  that  age  was  incompatible  with  universal 
active  missionary  enterprise.  In  an  age  of  almost  uni- 
versal polytheism  and  pantheism,  of  heathenism  rampant, 
it  was  a  task  of  Israel  to  be  monotheistic, — to  hold  the 
doctrine  of  monotheism  aloft ;  a  task  to  which  Israel  was 
competent  only  after  years  of  training  in  a  land  at  once 
isolated  fram  idolatrous  peoples,  and  a  highway  of  the 
nations  through  whom  God  chastised  his  people  when, 
in  spite  of  their  isolation,  they  fell  into  idolatry. 

That  Israel  might  receive,  hold,  and  teach  monothe- 
ism, God  kept  her  largely  to  herself;  forbade  her 
mingling  freely  with  other  nations.  In  like  manner,  that 
she  might  receive,  hold  and  teach  "a  true  ethical  ideal, 
such  as  is  embodied  in  the  Decalogue" ;  and  that  she 
might  set  forth  the  need  of  redemption  and  the  coming 
of  the  Redeemer,  he  kept  her  largely  to  herself.  The 
Church,  like  the  individual  missionary,  must  first  be  filled 
with,  and  established  in,  the  truth  before  it  can  do  much 
in  the  actual  work  of  missions. 

We  do  not  claim  that  the  Church  of  the  Mosaic  dis- 


i8  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

pensation  was  largely  occupied  with  distinctly  mission- 
ary labors.  What  we  do  claim  is  that  the  one  Church 
of  all  the  ages,  during  that  stage  of  its  history,  was  in 
training  for  missionary  work,  even  as  our  students  for 
the  ministry  now  are;  and  put  forth  effort  enough  of  a 
missionary  sort  to  show  a  missionary  heart  at  bottom. 

But  if  we  may  argue  with  confidence  that  in  the 
Church  we  have  a  missionary  society  ordained  of  God, 
from  the  unannulled  missionary  charter  of  the  Abrahamic 
Church,  a  charter  which  underlies  the  Christian  Church 
as  well  as  the  Abrahamic;  if  we  can  see  that  the  Church 
of  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  restrictive  though  it  was,  was 
at  bottom  missionary,  and  looked  to  universal  mission- 
ary work  once  its  trammels  were  removed ;  if  we  can  see 
that  it  did  much  missionary  work,  especially  through  its 
synagogues,  in  preparation  for  the  effort  of  the  Apostolic 
age ;  it  becomes  still  more  evident  that  the  Abrahamic 
Church  in  its  Christian,  or  New  Testament,  form  is  a 
missionary  society  ordained  of  God  when  we  turn  to 
the  New  Testament.  This  brings  us  to  the  strongest 
proof  that  God  ordained  the  Church  a  missionary  society 

In  support  of  this  contention  we  point,  in  the  third 
place,  to  the  fact  that  Neiv  Testament  teaching  clearly 
makes  the  Church  of  this  dispensation  a  missionary  so- 
ciety by  Divine  appointment. 

The  mass  of  New  Testament  matter  available  in 
the  support  of  this  position  is  so  vast  as  to  embarrass  him 
who  would  make  an  adequate  presentation  of  it.  Noth- 
ing more  is'  attempted  in  this  lecture  than  to  present 
certain  typical  portions  of  the  pertinent  matter. 
^  One  such  portion  is  the  ever-recurring  representa- 
tion that  the  Gospel  is  for  the  whole  world.    This  is  dis- 


God's  Ordained  Missionary  Society  19 

tinctly  taught  over  and  over  again:  "For  God  so  loved 
the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  that  zvho- 
soever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish  but  have  ever- 
lasting life."  "The  Son  of  man  must  be  lifted  up,  that 
whosoez'er  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life.  For  God  sent  not  his  Son  into  the  world 
to  condemn  the  zvorld;  but  that  the  zvorld  through  Him 
might  be  saved."  "And  the  Spirit  and  the  bride  say, 
Come.  And  he  that  heareth  let  him  say,  Come.  And 
he  that  is  athirst,  let  him  come :  he  that  will,  let  him  take 
of  the  water  of  life  freely." 

There  is  a  wideness  in  the  Gospel  like  the  wideness 
of  the  sea.  In  a  sense  that  the  Mosaic  Church  could 
not  be,  the  Christian  Church  is,  for  the  whole  world. 
Christ  contemplates  and  teaches  in  the  Gospel  of  a  Church 
co-extensive  with  the  earth  in  geographical  limits  and 
with  time  in  duration ;  and  this'  conception  of  the  Gospel 
and  of  the  Church  visible  is  not  only  the  prevalent  but 
the  universal  conception  amongst  New  Testament  writers. 
This  Divine  representation  of  the  Gospel  as  for  all  car- 
ries with  it  the  implication  of  an  obligation  on  those  who 
have  it  to  impart  it  to  those  who  have  it  not. 

But  not  only  does  the  New  Testament  teach  that  the 
Gospel  is  for  all  nations.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  re- 
peatedly laid  the  duty  upon  the  Church  of  giving  the 
Gospel  to  all  peoples.  In  particular,  he  delivered  a  great 
charge,  perfecting  the  constitution  of  the  Church  and, 
in  the  same  breath,  making  it  thenceforth  the  constitu- 
tion of  an  active  and  working  missionary  society.  This 
charge  he  repeated  in  substance  more  than  once.  As  re- 
corded in  Matt,  xxviii.  18-20,  it  reads,  "And  Jesus  came 
and  spake  unto  them,  saying,  All  power  is  given  unto 
me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.    Go  ye  and  teach  all  nations, 


-v 


20  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you ;  and  lo,  I  am  with 
you  always,  to  the  end  of  the  world." 

This  charge  may  be  considered  as  a  republication  of 
the  Abrahamic  covenant  with  an  improvement, — a  change 
in  the  form  of  the  seal  of  the  covenant,  viz. :  the  substi- 
tution of  baptism  for  circumcision.  But  this  by  the  way. 
Our  present  concern  is'  with  the  fact  that  this  charge 
expressly  enjoins  the  duty  of  being  missionary  on  the 
body  ecclesiastic.  Let  no  one  belonging  to  the  Church 
of  that  day  or  any  day  since  to  the  present,  attempt  to 
excuse  the  Church  or  himself  from  the  burden  of  this 
command.  The  command  was  to  the  body  in  covenant, 
and  all  its'  members  are  under  obligations  to  obey  the 
charge. 

The  charge  was  not  designed  merely  for  the  indi- 
viduals to  whom  it  was  first  addressed.  Christ  could 
not  have  asked  the  physically  impossible.  It  was  impos- 
sible for  the  Apostles  alone,  or  for  the  little  band  of 
disciples  then  on  earth  to  have  made  disciples  of  all 
nations  in  the  manner  commanded, — a  physical  impossi- 
bility. The  commentator  and  historian,  Hanna,  well  says, 
"When  Jesus  said,  'Go  ye  and  make  disciples  of  all  na- 
tions,' he  announced,  in  the  simplest  and  least  ostenta- 
tious way,  the  most  original,  the  broadest,  the  sublimest 
enterprise  that  ever  human  beings'  were  called  upon  to 
accomplish."  He  did  not  ask  it  of  the  Apostolic  body; 
he  did  not  ask  it  of  the  few  feeble  disciples  then  on  earth. 
He  asked  it  of  the  Church  in  which  the  Apostles  exer- 
cised their  offices'  and  of  which  the  disciples  were  mem- 
bers. This  appears  still  more  clearly  when  we  remark 
that  our  Lord  regards,  in  this  charge,  the  enterprise  of 


God's  Ordained  Missionary  Society  21 

missions  as  lasting  to  the  end  of  time.  He  says',  ''And, 
lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  as  you  engage  in  this  effort, 
even  unto  the  consummation  of  the  age,"  or  of  this  world- 
period.  The  mission  enterprise  was  to  be  only  fairly 
begun  when  the  Apostles  and  their  contemporaries  had 
seen  their  last  earthly  service.  Yet  as  they  represented 
the  Church  which  was  to  endure  throughout  the  ages, 
Christ  spoke  to  them  with  propriety  of  his'  going  to  be 
with  them  throughout  the  ages  in  the  enterprise  of  mis- 
sions. He  was  going  to  be  with  the  Church  of  which 
they  were  the  present  representatives  to  the  end  of  this 
world  age. 

But,  my  brethren,  that  the  Church  of  God  of  the 
Christian  dispensation  is  a  missionary  society  ordained 
of  God  is  made  clear  not  only  by  New  Testament  repre- 
sentations of  the  universality  of  the  Gospel  and  by  the- 
great  commission  given  by  our  Lord  to  his  Church,  the 
body  in  covenant  with  him  and  to  which  he  granted  the 
seal  of  Baptism ;  but  by  the  history  recorded  in  the  Acts 
-fof  the  Apostles.  That  history  makes  it  clear  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  was  careful  to  make  and  to  keep  the  Apos- 
tolic Church  a  missionary  Church.  Christ  told  propheti- 
cally the  history  of  this  Church  in  the  memorable  words 
announced  to  the  disciples  who  witnessed  the  ascension, 
"Ye  shall  receive  power  when  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come 
upon  you ;  and  ye  shall  be  my  witnesses  both  in  Jerusa- 
lem, and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the 
uttermost  part  of  the  earth."  He  foretold  in  these 
pregnant  words  the  gist  of  Apostolic  history.  The 
Gospel  began  to  be  preached  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all 
Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth.  The  Church  was  missionary;  all  missionary 
in  spirit;  as  appears  from  the  record  in  Acts  viii.  1-4.   We 


22  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

there  read  that,  after  the  stoning  of  Stephen,  when  the 
disciples  were  scattered  abroad  throughout  the  regions 
of  Judea  and  Samaria,  except  the  Apostles',  "They  that 
were  scattered  abroad  went  everywhere  preaching  the 
word."  Disciples,  taken  in  after  the  ascension,  under 
the  tuition  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  felt  the  burden  and  the 
privilege  of  the  great  commission  to  the  Church  of  which 
they  were  a  part.  Some  preached  Christ  in  a  formal 
way;  some  in  an  informal  way  only,  some  talked  and 
lived  Christ  merely.  The  Spirit  moved  the  whole  Church 
to  be  missionary  as  every  member  could.  He  moved 
certain  men  in  a  special  way  to  their  work.  He  said, 
"Separate  me,  Barnabas  and  Saul  to  the  work  whereto 
I  have  called  them."  Through  them  the  Church  at  large 
labored  in  extraordinary  wise  in  missions.  Paul  and 
Barnabas  recognized  this  and  made  reports  of  their  labors 
to  the  Church  whence  they  were  sent  out.  But  not  only 
through  these  great  leaders  did  the  Holy  Ghost  move  the 
Church  to  mission  efforts,  as  has  appeared.  These  pre- 
eminent missionaries  found  fields  prepared  by  obscure 
Christians,  under  the  leading  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  their 
reaping. 

Church  history  in  the  Apostolic  age,  under  the  in- 
spiring impulses  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  mostly  a  history 
of  missions'.  What  is  New  Testament  literature,  once 
you  have  passed  the  Gospels,  but  the  literature  of  Apos- 
tolic missions?  Three-fourths,  and  more,  of  the  Books 
of  Acts  is'  taken  up  with  the  history  of  the  grand  march 
of  Apostolic  missions.  Paul's  Epistles  are  letters  to  mis- 
sionary churches  and  missionary  workers,  and  deal  witli 
the  problems  arising  on  the  various  missionary  fields. 
Large  portions  of  remaining  books  are  missionary.  The 
Apocalypse  is,  in  part,  addressed  to  missionary  churches, 


God's  Ordained  Missionary  Society  23 

in  part,  deals  philosophically  with  the  great  contest  be- 
tween the  Church  as  missionary  and  the  hostile  power 
of  the  world  arrayed  against  it. 

The  New  Testament  Church  had  to  be  missionary  or 
die.  It  had  to  live  by  missionary  enterprise,  as  the 
Churches  in  our  foreign  mission  fields  to-day.  And  thus 
by  environment,  as  well  as  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  by  Providence  as  well  as  by  teaching  and  inner 
direction,  God  made  the  Apostolic  Church  missionary. 

Our  present  contention,  then,  that  in  ordaining  the 
constitution  of  the  Church  God  made  it  a  missionary 
society  is  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  reasonable  doubt.  This 
appears  from  the  import  of  the  unrepealed  Abrahamic 
covenant,  from  the,  at  bottom,  missionary  character  of 
the  Church  under  the  Mosaic  economy  and  from  the  New 
Testament  teaching  so  abundant  and  clear  that  a  wayfar- 
ing man,  though  a  fool,  may  read  it  as  he  runs. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  the  Church  of  Christ  should 
ever  have  become  dead  to  the  obligation  to  be  mission- 
ary, as  such ;  strange  that  real  Christians  should  have 
thought  themselves  excused  from  the  duty  of  actively 
pushing  the  cause  of  Christ,  in  the  face  of  all  this  evi- 
dence to  the  contrary.  But  owing  to  vicious  views  of 
Christian  doctrine  and  order  which  prevailed  as  early  as 
the  Patristic  age  of  the  Church,  the  Church  as  such  and 
professing  Christians  for  the  most  part  lost  consciousness 
of  themselves  as  missionary.  Only  within  the  last  four- 
score years  have  the  Churches  as  such  begun  to  re- 
awaken to  their  responsibilities.  Only  within  a  shorter 
period  have  the  individual  members  begun  to  awaken  in 
considerable  numbers,  to  a  sense  of  their  duty.  Even 
yet  a  large  proportion  of  Church  members  have  persist- 
ently refused  to  give  practical  recognition  of  their  mis- 


24  Introductiox  to  Christian  Missions 

sionary  obligations  by  putting  their  hands  to  the  work. 
Hence  our  second  contention  that  every  member  of  the 
Church,  in  virtue  of  his  Church  membership,  is  a  mem- 
ber of  a  missionary  society,  and  stands  pledged  to  do  his 
utmost  as  such. 

That  such  is  the  case  appears  from  the  following 
simple  considerations,  viz.:  ist.  In  the  constitution  of 
the  Church  as  missionary,  no  provision  appears  for  a 
non-missionary  class  of  adult  members.  We  shall  not 
attempt  to  prove  this  negative.  We  have  been  able  to 
find  no  such  provision.  The  hearer  is  challenged,  fear- 
lessly, to  find  anything  of  the  kind  between  the  lids  of 
the  Bible.  Not  all  the  members  are  required  to  be  mis- 
sionaries in  the  technical  sense  of  the  term ;  but  there 
is  no  provision  for  members  not  missionary  in  spirit. 
2nd.  Christ  has  so  fixed  the  conditions  of  membership 
as  virtually  to  pledge  all  full  members  to  the  mission 
cause.  It  is  amongst  Christ's  prerogatives  to  fix  the  con- 
ditions of  membership  in  the  body  of  which  he  is  head. 
During  his  ministry,  he  set  forth  the  conditions  on  sev- 
eral occasions  and  with  varying  fullness.  The  compen- 
dious expositions  of  these  conditions  must,  of  course,  be 
interpreted  in  the  light  of  the  fuller.  In  Luke  xiv.  25,  fif, 
we  have  the  conditions  of  discipleship  set  forth  with 
some  degree  of  fullness  to  a  great  crowd,  many  persons 
amongst  which  were  inclined  to  profess  discipleship  with- 
out counting  the  cost.  These  conditions  include  a  love  to 
Him  greater  than  that  a  man  bears  his  own  father  and 
mother  and  wife  and  children  and  brethren  and  sisters', 
yea,  and  his  own  life  also;  and  a  readiness  to  bear  the 
cross  of  Christ  and  follow  Him  in  a  life  to  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  good  of  men.     Everv  member  who,  in  be- 


God's  Ordained  Missionary  Society  25 

coming  such,  acted  intelligently,  professed  this  supreme 
love  to  Christ  and  allegiance  to  Him  as  his  leader.  Only 
thus  did  he  become  a  Church  member.  But  Christ,  as 
has  appeared,  has  laid  on  the  Church,  on  all  in  covenant 
with  him  by  baptism,  by  positive  injunction,  to  make 
disciples  of  all  nations.  It  is  incontrovertible  that  every 
member  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  a  member  of  a  God- 
ordained  missionary  society,  in  virtue  of  his  membership 
in  the  Church. 

A  few  decades  ago  this  would  have  seemed  strange 
doctrine,  notwithstanding  its  evident  Scripturalness.  The 
members  of  the  Churches  were  strangely  dead  to  their 
obligations.  And  even  now,  were  a  canvass  made  of  all 
the  Churches  a  large  percent,  would  be  found  asleep  on 
this  great  business  of  their  King, — a  business  in  com- 
parison with  which  the  greatest  purely  secular  enterprises 
pursued  in  a  purely  secular  Spirit,  are  but  petty  toy- 
making.  There  are  many  and  gracious  signs  of  a  wide- 
spread awakening  in  our  day.  The  members  of  our  own 
beloved  Church  are;  in  considerable  numbers,  awaking 
to  becoming  endeavor  in  support  of  the  mission  cause. 
Yet  the  number  of  congregations  in  which  every  Chris- 
tian member,  in  a  practical  way,  counts  himself  a  member 
of  a  missionary  society  in  virtue  of  being  a  Church  mem- 
ber, is  relatively  small. 

It  will  be  a  part  of  your  duty,  my  brethren,  to  try 
to  arouse  every  member  of  your  Church  so  to  consider 
himself.  The  first  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  South'  sounded  the  true-note  on  this  subject. 
That  noble  body  passed  a  number  of  resolutions  touching 
missions,  amongst  which  was  the  following: 

"The  General  Assembly  desires  distinctly  and  delib- 
erate! v  to  inscribe  on  our  Church's  banner,  as  she  now 


26  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

first  unfolds  it  to  the  world,  in  immediate  connection  with 
the  headship  of  our  Lord,  his  last  command :  'Go  ye  into 
all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,' 
regarding  this  as  the  great  end  of  her  organization,  and 
obedience  to  it  as  the  indispensable  condition  of  her 
Lord's  promised  presence,  and  as  one  great  comprehen- 
sive object,  a  proper  conception  of  whose  magnitude  and 
grandeur  is  the  only  thing  which,  in  connection  with  the 
love  of  Christ,  can  ever  sufficiently  arouse  her  energies 
and  develop  her  resources  as  to  cause  her  to  carry  on, 
with  the  vigor  and  efficiency  which  true  fealty  to  her 
Lord  demands,  those  other  agencies  necessary  to  her 
internal  growth  and  home  prosperity.  The  claims  of  this 
cause  ought  therefore  to  be  kept  constantly  before  the 
minds  of  the  people  smd  pressed  upon  their  consciences. 
The  ministers  and  ruling  elders,  and  deacons,  and  Sab- 
bath school  teachers,  and  especially  the  parents,  ought 
and  are  enjoined  by  the  Assembly,  to  give  particular  at- 
tention to  all  those  for  whose  religious'  teaching  they  are 
responsible,  in  training  them  to  feel  a  deeper  interest  in 
this  work,  to  form  habits  of  systematic  benevolence,  and 
to  feel  and  respond  to  the  claims  of  Jesus  upon  them  for 
personal  service  in  the  field." 

It  is  yours  to  labor  for  the  realization  of  these  noble 
ideals  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  people ;  and  to 
bring  on  the  day  when  every  member  of  the  Church  shall 
see  that  in  joining  the  Church,  he  became  a  member  of 
the  missionary  society  and  pledged  himself  to  labor  to 
the  utmost  in  the  cause. 

We  are  now  ready  for  our  third  contention,  that  the 
obligation  to  fulfill  this  pledge  is  imperative  and  exclusive. 

Every  consideration  advanced  in  support  of  the  pre- 
ceding contentions   shows   that   the   pledge,   involved   in 


God's  Ordained  [Missionary  Society  27 

the  Church  membership  to  be  missionary,  imposes  upon 
us  an  imperative  obHgation.  The  will  of  God  that  His 
Church  should  be  missionary,  the  command  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  on  the  Church  and  its  members,  makes  the 
obligation  imperative,  as  everybody  should  see,  to  be 
missionary  as  members'  of  His  Church. 

This  obligation  is  exclusive  in  the  following  respect: 
It  forbids  our  doing  our  work  as  members  of  any  society 
which  takes  the  place  of  the  Church.  The  Clnirch,  with 
its  members  as  such,  has  been  commissioned  of  its  Head 
and  theirs  to  do  this  w^ork.  Hence  the  local  Church 
should  be  its  own  missionary  society ;  and  the  denomina- 
tion its  own  missionary  society,  as  the  Lord  has  appointed. 

The  local  Church  may  allow  its'  members  to  form 
themselves  into  groups  for  the  study  of  missions  and 
for  mutual  stimulation  in  giving,  and  otherwise  laboring 
in  behalf  of  the  cause ;  and  the  denomination  may  allow 
interorganization  between  the  groups  for  the  like  ends. 
But  the  local  Church  should  not  allow  a  number  of  itsi 
members  to  form  a  volunteer  organization  to  stand  over 
against  the  rest  of  the  Church  and  do  its  missionary 
work  for  it ;  nor  may  the  denomination  allow  a  voluntary 
agency  independent  of  the  Church  to  do  the  missionary 
work  of  the  Church  for  it.  Nor  should  the  members 
throw  themselves'  into  such  voluntary  societies  as  are 
putting  themselves  in  the  place  of  the  congregation  or 
denomination  in  the  mission  work :  God  gave  the  work 
to  the  Church.  It  is  usurpation  for  any  man-made  or- 
ganization to  step  into  the  Church's  place  in  the  work. 
God  imposed  the  work  on  the  Church  with  all  its  mem- 
bers. We  should  never  do  anything  to  relieve  any  Church 
member  of  the  sense  of  the  obligation  resting  on  him  as 
such  to  be  missionarv. 


28  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

If  it  be  said  to  you  that  the  form  of  our  Church 
organization  is  not  of  such  a  sort  that  the  Church  as 
such  is'  not  suited  to  pushing  the  mission  cause,  for  which 
compact  organization  is  needed,  then  the  answer  should 
be,  as  in  our  own  standards,  God  hath  given  in  the  Scrip- 
tures with  sufficient  clearness  the  faith  the  Church  should 
hold,  the  government  it  should  exercise  and  the  worship 
it  should  engage  in.  To  the  Word  with  your  Church, 
bring  the  Church  into  conformity  with  the  pattern  shown 
in  the  Word.  Men  are  both  incompetent  to  improve  on 
the  Bible  teaching  concerning  the  faith,  government,  or 
worship,  of  the  Church  and  are  interdicted  from  the  at- 
tempt to  do  it.  They  are  not  fit  to  be  the  confidential 
advisers  of  the  Most  High  about  the  means  or  the  agent 
to  be  used  in  bringing  the  world  to  the  foot  of  the  cross. 

If  it  be  said,  our  congregation  or  our  denomination  is 
dead  to  the  call  to  this  great  cause,  and  unless  individuals 
here  and  there  get  together  and  do  the  work  which  the 
Church  ought  to  do  but  does  not,  it  will  not  be  done ; 
something  may  have  to  be  conceded.  Certainly,  not  a 
hundred  and  twenty  years  ago  there  was  almost  universal 
apathy  on  the  subject  of  foreign  missions,  and  when  the 
Church  "is  largely  dead  to  her  duty,  when  she  is"  prac- 
tically apostate  in  respect  to  one  great  function,  when 
she  will  not  take  up  and  push  the  great  enterprise  which 
the  Lord  has'  committed  to  her,  shall  consecrated  souls 
here  and  there  not  be  permitted  to  unite  in  societies  and 
push  as  volunteers  this  cause?  We  must  say  to  them 
the  rather,  God  speed  you  in  your  way  for  the  present. 
It  is  better  that  you  express  your  love  for  Him  in  thi§ 
vv^ay  than  not  at  all.  We  should  also  say  to  them,  "Be- 
ware, however,  of  contentment  with  any  mere  portion 
of  God's  people  as  workers  in  the  mission  cause.     The 


God's  Ordained  IMissionary  Society  29 

Church  is  of  right  the  missionary  society ;  convert  it  into 
a  missionary  society.  By  prayer  to  God,  by  proclama- 
tion of  the  truth,  by  persuasive  power  of  a  godly  walk, 
lead  all  the  brethren  of  the  Church  to  be  workers'  in  this 
great  cause;  in  the  end  resolve  your  independent  volun- 
teer society  which  was  begun  independently  of  ecclesias- 
tical action  into  a  committee  of  your  Church.  By  all 
means  annihilate  the  idea  that  the  missionary  obligations 
of  the  entire  Church  can  be  met  by  any  portion  of  them 
called  a  'missionary  society.'  " 

In  some  of  our  Churches  in  the  past  the  whole  burden 
of  missions  seems  to  have  rested  on  the  frail  shoulders 
of  a  few  women ;  some  of  them  hardly  so  much  moved 
by  intelligent  devotion  to  Christ's  cause  as  by  the  social 
element  in  the  Hfe  of  their  mission  societies ;  in  some 
cases  not  one  of  them  making  any  sustained  effort  to  lay 
aside  as  the  Lord  had  prospered  her ;  in  some  cases  pay- 
ing with  irregularity  their  small  dues,  and,  for  the  rest, 
resorting  to  doubtful  means  to  raise  money;  the  men 
leaving  the  matter  to  the  women,  feeling  that  if  they  pa- 
tronized their  suppers  and  purchased  an  occasional  trifle 
for  twice,  or  thrice,  its  commercial  value,  and  contributed 
some  loose  pennies, — they  had  fully  acquitted  themselves. 

This'  is  Httle  above  childish,  if  not  profane  play  at 
pushing  the  Lord's  cause.  It  is  yours,  my  brethren,  in 
this  dawn  of  a  great  missionary  day,  to  help  voice  the 
imperative  and  exclusive  claims  of  the  Lord's  missionary 
society;  to  teach  every  member  of  the  Church,  God's 
own  mission  society,  that  as  such  he  must  regard  it  as 
his  highest  duty  to  help  take  the  world  for  Christ. 


LECTURE  II. 

The   New   Testament   Principle  to   Regulate  the 
Church's    Missionary    Effort. 

In  the  first  lecture  we  attempted  to  ascertain  the  atti- 
tude toward  missions,  proper  to  the  Church,  according  to 
the  teaching  of  the  Bible.  We  saw  that  the  Bible  repre- 
sented the  Church  as  a  God-ordained  missionary  society ; 
every  member  of  the  Church  as  pledged  to  do  his'  part 
in  the  mission  work  of  this  society;  and  the  obligation 
resting  upon  him  in  this  capacity  as  imperative. 

The  Bible  making  so  much  of  missions,  it  is  natural 
to  expect  in  it  some  disclosure  of  a  principle,  or  prin- 
ciples', properly  regulative  of  the  Church's  missionary 
effort;  which,  if  duly  seized  by  the  Church  and  given 
practical  recognition  in  its  life,  will  enable  it  to  do  the 
work  with  efficiency  and  success.  Such  disclosure  may 
be  looked  for  in  the  Book  of  Acts,  which  is  the  history 
of  the  spread  of  the  Church  under  the  special  guidance 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Accordingly,  we  turn  our  attention 
to-day  to  that  book;  and,  for  convenience,  somewhat 
narrowly  on  one  verse  of  that  book,  a  verse  which  may 
be  called  the  Little  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  considered 
as  an  epitome  of  the  whole  book.  That  verse  is  Acts  i.  8, 
"But  ye  shall  receive  power,  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  come  upon  you:  And  ye  shall  he  witnesses  unto  me 
both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and 
unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth." 

These  words  are  sometimes'  spoken  of  as  being  one 
form  of  the  Apostolic  commission.     They  do  contain, 


Church's  Missionary  Effort  31 

by  implication,  a  warrant  granting  certain  powers  and 
privileges'  to,  and  imposing  certain  duties  upon,  the 
Apostles.  But  they  do  not  constitute  formally  such  a 
warrant.  They  are  sometimes  spoken  of  as  setting  forth 
the  apostolic  mission.  They  do  set  forth  that  mission — 
the  work  to  which  the  Apostles'  were  to  devote  their 
energies  and  their  lives;  but  they  do  so  incidentally  and 
not  of  primary  intention ;  virtually  and  not  formally.  The 
tenses  used  in  the  text  are  futures,  not  imperatives ;  and 
not  futures  for  imperatives.  They  are  not  mandatory, 
but  declarative.  There  is  a  mandate  in  the  words,  in-i 
deed,  but  it  is  there  by  implication  alone.  The  words  are 
sometimes'  spoken  of  as  a  promise.  They  undoubtedly 
carry  a  promise,  two  glorious  promises  with  them :  the 
promise  of  a  divine  power,  and  the  promise  of  a  future 
victorious  witness-bearing.  But  they  do  not  constitute 
in  form  a  promise.  In  form  and  in  design  they  are  a 
prophecy.    They  foretell  what  shall  be. 

Being  a  revelation  of  God's  will  in  regard  to  the 
Apostolic  Church  and  its  work,  the  words  show  the 
Apostles  and  the  Church  the  plan  with  which  they  should 
fall-in,  show  them  that  they  have  a  commission,  a  war- 
rant, to  go  about  doing  the  things  which  the  prophecy 
declares  shall  be  done ;  show  that  their  mission  is,  and 
is  only,  the  accomplishment  of  what  has'  thus  been  pro- 
phesied. As  the  prophecy  is  of  good  things,  of  things 
which  the  Apostles,  and  all  like-minded  with  them,  de- 
sired to  see  fulfilled,  the  words  stand  to  them  in  lieu  of 
a  promise.  But  in  intention  and  effect  they  are,  first  of 
all,  simply  and  solely  a  prophesy. 

This  the  Greek  tenses  of  the  text  and  the  context 
show.  The  tenses  are  futures  in  form  and  should  be 
construed  as    futures   in   sense  unless   there   is  evident 


32  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

reason  to  the  contrary.  Such  "evident  reason  is  not 
found."  The  context  favors  the  view  that  they  are  future 
in  sense  as  well  as  in  form.  The  Apostles  had  raised  a 
question  about  a  matter  which  they  had  hoped  would 
occur  in  the  future.  They  had  asked  the  Lord  whether 
he  would  at  that  time  restore  again  the  kingdom  to  Israel. 
They  were  forecasting.  They  desired  from  him  a  pro- 
phecy. The  Master  told  them  that  it  was  not  theirs  to 
know  "The  times  and  the  seasons  which  the  Father  hath 
put  in  his  own  power."  Their  wish  with  regard  to  this 
particular  matter  of  inquiry  was  denied;  the  spirit  of 
forecast  was  not  rebuked,  it  was  about  to  be  redirected. 
He  at  once  brought  forth  from  the  womb  of  the  future 
something  of  which  it  could  not  be  said:  'Tt  is  not  for 
you  to  know."  He  uttered  these  pregnant  words,  "The 
Little  Acts'  of  the  Apostles." 

These  words,  every  one  sees  at  a  glance,  were  spoken 
of  the  Church  of  the  apostolic  age — of  the  Church  in 
which  the  Apostles  themselves  were  to  be  the  chief  wit- 
nesses. But  they  contain  a  principle  which  should  regu- 
late the  Church's  propagandism  to  the  end  of  time.  They 
have  a  twofold  content.  They  set  forth  the  principle 
or  law  of  the  Church's  propagandism,  and  foretell  the 
first  great  instance  of  its  outworking  in  the  actual  life 
of  the  Christian  Church.  In  other  words,  instead  of 
announcing  the  abstract  principle  which  is  to  condition 
the  spreading  of  the  Church,  they  predict  a  concrete  em- 
bodiment of  that  principle.  In  regarding  the  instance 
we  must  not  overlook  the  more  important  thing,  the  prin- 
ciple, which   will  be  worked   out  over  and  over  again. 

We  must  remember  the  canon  for  the  interpretation 
of  prophecy,  announced  by  Bacon:  "Prophecy  hath 
springing  and  germinant  accomplishment."     In  propor- 


Church's  Missionary  Effort  33 

tion  as  the  rapidity  and  soundness  of  the  Church's  growth 
increase,  in  that  proportion,  it  will  be  discovered,  has  the 
law  which  governed  the  spread  of  the  Church  in  the 
apostolic  age  been  made  the  law  again  of  the  growing 
Church. 

We  have,  then,  in  Acts  i.  8,  the  divinely  preannounced 
principle  regulative  of  the  Church's  effort  at  propagand- 
ism  in  the  apostolic  age;  and,  of  right,  regulative  of  its 
effort  to  the  end  of  time.  It  is  fair  to  conclude,  a  priori, 
that  a  proper  study  of  the  utterance  would  yield  many 
valuable  indications  as  to  the  way  in  which  the  Church 
of  God  to-day  should  go  about  its  mission  work.  Let 
us,  accordingly,  proceed  to  this  study. 

It  will  be  helpful  to  study  the  fulfilment  of  the  pro- 
phecy as  wrought  out  in  the  history  of  the  Apostolic 
Church.  The  principle  underlying  the  divine  method  of 
working  in  missions  will  thus  become  clearly  manifest. 
As  we  study  the  prophecy  and  its  fulfilment,  let  us  ask 
at  every  step,  "Why?"  Why  wait  at  Jerusalem?  Why 
bear  witness  first  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judea?  Why 
bear  withness,  second,  in  Samaria?  Why  bear  witness, 
last,  to  the  Gentiles?  What  is  the  core  and  heart  of  this 
prophecy  for  us?  What  is  the  principle  which  the  Church 
should  apply  over  and  over?  How  would  God  secure 
the  accomplishment  of  his  plan?  If  our  inquiry  is  an- 
swered by  only  a  very  moderate  amount  of  light,  it  will 
be  something  to  have  set  our  minds  going  on  the  subject. 

There  are  four  periods  in  the  life  of  the  Apostolic 
Church,  all  marked  in  the  Acts,  and  all,  likewise,  dis- 
tinguished in  the  text:  i.  The  period  during  which  the 
disciples  waited,  according  to  Christ's  bidding,  in  Jeru- 
salem. 2.  The  period  of  witness-bearing  among  the 
Jews.  3.  The  period  among  the  Samaritan  people.  4. 
The  period  amongst  the  Gentile  nations. 


34  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

To  take  up  these  periods  in  their  order : 
ist.  Why  the  period  of  waiting?  To  the  Apostles 
themselves  the  command  to  wait  in  Jerusalem  until  th^y 
should  receive  the  promise  might  seem  directly  contrary 
to  human  wisdom.  The  disciples  were  few  in  numbers. 
They  were  obscure,  despised  and  timid.  They  made  next 
to  no  impression  on  the  world.  It  was  a  time  of  weak- 
ness. It  might  have  seemed  that  there  was  danger  of 
their  being  crushed  utterly  in  case  of  their  not  allowing 
themselves  to  be  parted  from  Jerusalem,  in  case  of  their 
waiting  there  for  the  promise  of  their  departed  Lord. 
Or,  escaping  annihilation,  it  must  have  seemed  that  there 
was  great  danger  of  the  utter  disheartening  of  the  dis- 
ciples by  holding  them  in  Jerusalem,  waiting.  It  must 
have  seemed  that  if  they  were  to  do  anything  for  Christ, 
it  behooved  them  to  proceed  to  work  at  once ;  for  as  the 
days  passed  would  not  all  the  devils  of  doubt  tear  at 
them? 

But  Christ  said,  "Don't  be  parted  from  Jerusalem. 
Wait  here  for  the  promise :  'Ye  shall  receive  power,  after 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  is'  come  upon  you.'  "  Though  we 
may  not  fathom  all  his  reasons,  we  are  pretty  safe  in 
naming  the  following: 

First,  He  proposed  to  develop  the  quality  of  courage- 
ous faithfulness  in  the  Apostles,  and  to  prepare  them  for 
the  reception  of  a  larger  amount  of  truth.  He  would 
enlarge  their  fidelity  to  himself.  He  had  a  most  self- 
abnegating  life  in  view  for  them.  He  desired  in  them 
men  who  would  do  anything  which  his  cause  required, 
men  who  would  ride  through  any  moral  Balaklava  for 
him;  and  so  he  put  them  through  this  spell  of  waiting. 
He  knew  that  it  makes  a  man,  as  well  as  takes  a  man, 
to  stand  still  on  a  sinking  Victoria  merely  because  the 


Church's  Missionary  Effort  35 

order  to  "Stand  still"  has  been  given.  He  knew  that,  in 
consequence  of  the  great  strain  thus  to  be  brought  to 
bear  on  these  men,  they  would  come  through  with  iron 
in  their  courage  for  him !  and  that  by  thus  sticking  to 
himself  through  those  days,  like  brave  soldiers  of  a  for- 
lorn hope,  they  would  get  far  along  towards  being  in- 
vincibles'  at  the  end  of  the  test.  Moreover,  he  had,  at 
the  end  of  the  days  of  waiting,  much  truth  to  open  to 
them. 

Mr.  Frederick  W.  Robertson  calls  obedience  "the 
organ  of  spiritual  knowledge" ;  and  our  Lord,  himself, 
teaches  that,  "if  any  man  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of 
the  doctrine,  whether  it  be  of  God."  Obedience  to  God's 
known  will  fits  for  a  larger  apprehension  of  that  will. 
A  great  growth  was  designed  to  go  on  in  the  disciples' 
while  they  were  waiting;  and  did  go  on.  The  event 
which  separates  this  period  from  the  next,  viz. :  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Holy  Ghost,  was  so  great,  did  so  much 
to  bring  about  the  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  disciples 
toward  the  world,  that  we  are  in  danger  of  forgetting 
the  preparaion  for  the  change  which  had  previously  been 
going  on  in  the  hearts  of  the  disciples.  We  do  well, 
however,  to  inquire  whether,  without  the  preparation, 
those  vessels  would  have  been  able  to  receive  the  gifts  in 
such  measure  as  were  poured  out  into  them.  A  hogshead 
of  water  connot  be  put  together  in  a  gallon  bucket.  Nor 
can  there  be  poured  all  at  once  the  greatest  wealth  of 
spiritual  gifts  into  a  shrunken  soul.  There  was  a  move- 
ment from  both  ends  of  the  line  about  the  time  of  the 
Pentecost:  God  poured  out,  from  above,  the  heavenly 
gifts  of  the  Spirit ;  but  they  fell  upon  men,  who,  by  their 
hard  obedience  to  himself,  had  been  lifted  up  and  made 
able  to  receive  his  gifts.     Now,  this  uplift  in  power  to 


36  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

follow  Christ,  fully,  and  this  enlargement  of  capacity  for 
the  reception  of  heavenly  gifts,  were  most  important 
reasons  for  Christ's  bidding  the  disciples  to  wait  till  the 
Pentecost. 

Second,  the  disciples  were  bidden  to  wait  because 
Christ  saw  that  the  effect  of  the  outpouring  would  be 
greater  at  Pentecost  than  at  an  earlier  time.  There  are 
nicks  of  time  that  are  all-important.  There  were  to  be 
present  at  that  feast  representatives  from  almost  every 
civilized  nation  under  the  sun.  News'  of  the  great  event 
was  to  be  carried  widely  over  the  world,  and  make  in 
many  directions  for  the  spread  of  Christ's  kingdom. 

Third,  they  were  to  wait  because,  again,  they  could 
not  work  with  effect  until  God  had  sent  down  upon  them 
the  Holy  Spirit ;  until  God  had  made  them  forever  certain 
that  he  was  with  them  and  had  made  clear  forever  to 
their  minds  the  true  nature  of  Christ's  work.  The  out- 
pouring of  the  Holy  Ghost  at  Pentecost  was  a  blessed 
rain  that  washed  out  the  atmosphere.  It  was  the  glori- 
ous sunlight  chasing  away  the  darkness  and  enabling  the 
Church  to  see  the  truth  and  that  it  had  the  truth.  It  was' 
something  more  than  this — an  enduement  with  miracu- 
lous powers,  an  enriching  of  their  gracious  equipment 
generally — an  uplift  of  the  whole  nature ;  but  the  com- 
munication of  the  truth  and  the  certification  to  the  dis- 
ciples that  they  had  the  truth  gave  the  Pentecostal  out- 
pouring its  chief  significance  to  the  disciples.  It  made 
clear  to  them  that  their  crucified,  risen,  ascended  Lord 
was  with  them,  their  invincible  leader  through  the  agency 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  first  period  was,  therefore,  a  period  of  great  im- 
portance. The  disciples  had  been  elevated  vastly  in  char- 
acter by  the  discipline  of  waiting,  they  had  been  taught 


Church's  Missionary  Effort  37 

the  propriety  of  looking  for  the  strategic  moment  by  the 
coming  of  the  outpouring  not  earlier  but  at  Pentecost. 
They  had  been  prepared  by  infilling  with  the  truth  and 
certification  that  they  had  it,  to  preach  with  impelling 
conviction. 

The  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost  at  Pentecost  made 
the  first  epoch.  The  equipment  of  the  Apostolic  Church 
for  witnessing  was  thereby  so  far  completed,  that  the 
Church  was  to  proceed  to  the  work  of  testifying  at  once. 
"And  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  both  in  Jerusalem 
and  in  all  Judea." 

2nd.  Why  was  the  witnessing  to  be  first  of  all  in 
Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judea?  Why  first  of  all  to  the 
Jews?    Among  the  reasons  which  can  be  seen,  we  note: 

First,  that  men  might  have  assured  evidence  of  the 
resurrection  of  Christ.  The  disciples'  of  Christ  began 
their  testimony  to  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  not  in 
remote  Galilee,  but  in  the  town  in  which  he  had  sufiFered, 
and  in  the  hearing  of  those  who  had  nailed  him  to  the 
cross.  The  mediaeval  miracles  were  generally  first  af- 
firmed in  places  and  in  time  remote  from  those  in  which 
they  were  said  to  have  occurred.  The  same  is  true  of 
the  "miracles  of  Mohammed."  But  the  greatest  miracle 
of  Christ,  his  own  resurrection  from  the  dead,  his  dis- 
ciples witness  to  in  the  weeks  succeeding  its  occurrence 
and  under  the  eyes  of  his'  murderers.  This  fact  adds  to 
the  comfortable  certainty  of  the  Christian  world  till  to- 
day. It  was  proper  that  the  Apostles  should  at  first  work 
where  they  could  best  preserve  to  the  Church  of  all  the 
future  the  cardinal  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  from  the  dead.  So  doing  was  an  essential  condi- 
tion to  effective  work  in  propagating  Christianity  in  every 
subsequent  age  of  the  Church. 


38  Introduction  to  Christian  ]Missions 

Second,  God  would  magnify  his  mercies  to  the  chil- 
dren of  Jacob.  Therefore,  the  witnessing  was  to  be  first 
to  the  Jews.  The  children  of  Jacob  had  strong  race 
prejudices,  and  if  they  were  to  be  converted,  the  change 
would  be  attended  by  less  friction  before  their  Gentile 
brothers  should  be  led  into  the  Christian  fold.  The 
previous  acceptance  of  Christianity  by  the  Gentiles 
would  have  made  it  much  more  unacceptable  to  the  Jew- 
ish race.  A  Jew's  embracing  Christianity  under  such 
conditions  had  involved  his  taking  openly  into  fellowship 
the  uncircumcised  and  swine-eating  Gentile.  It  is  plain 
that  the  witnesses  of  Jesus  were  in  the  best  condition  for 
testifying  effectively  to  the  Jews  concerning  Jesus  before 
they  had,  according  to  Jewish  thought,  contaminated 
themselves  by  preaching  among  the  Gentiles.  Not  to 
have  worked  among  the  Jews  first  would  have  been  to 
have  treated  them  with  less  kindness'  than  the  Gentiles. 

But  God  would  fulfill  his  promise  of  a  Saviour  to 
Israel  which  of  old  he  had  called  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chil- 
dees,  which  he  had  brought  up  out  of  Egypt  with  a  high 
hand  and  an  outstretched  arm,  which  he  had  brought 
back  from  Babylon,  which  he  had  ever  kept  in  the  hol- 
low of  his  hand.  He  would  multiply  his  mercies  upon 
Israel.  He  had  already  sent  the  Saviour  even  to  death. 
But  the  people  had  not  generally  recognized  him  up  to 
the  time  of  his  crucifixion.  The  crowning  proof  of  the 
Messiah-ship  was  Christ's  resurrection  from  the  dead ; 
and  that  Israel  might  have  unimpeachable  evidence  that 
the  Saviour  had  been  sent,  it  was  fitting  that  they  should 
have  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  substantiated  beyond 
a  doubt.  God  proved  to  them,  therefore,  under  circum- 
stances which  permitted  the  freest  examination  of  the 
evidence  that  Christ  had  risen  from  the  dead.  He  made 
the  disciples  witness  to  the  resurrection  first  to  the  Jews. 


Church's  Missionary  Effort  39 

Third,  Jesus  bade  his  disciples  bear  witness  first  of 
all  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judea,  that  he  might  secure  a 
missionary  host  with  which  speedily  to  take  the  rest  of 
the  world.  Of  all  the  peoples  in  the  world  at  that  time, 
the  Jewish  people  were,  perhaps,  the  best  fitted  to  make 
Christians  of  a  high  order  of  usefulness  in  the  further 
spread  of  the  truth.  They  were  eminent  for  civic  and 
moral  virtues.  They  had  higher  notions  of  the  inviola- 
bility of  truth,  duty,  and  of  God.  They  were  ca- 
pable of  nobler  enthusiasm  and  stronger  devotion. 
Such  qualities  in  the  first  converts  were  matters  of  no 
inconsiderable  importance,  if  the  Gospel  was  to  become 
widespread.  God  does  not,  as  a  rule,  make  Christians  of 
the  same  power  out  of  natural  men  of  unequal  power. 
The  engines  are  of  different  sizes.  God  may  fill  each 
full  of  the  fire  and  water  of  life;  but  the  engines  are 
not  thereby  brought  to  the  same  power.  The  witnessing 
was  first  to  the  children  of  Abraham,  that  that  superior 
race  once  Christianized  might  become  the  source  ol 
mighty  instruments  for  the  further  spread  of  the  truth. 

Fourth,  Jesus'  bade  the  witnessing  first  among  the 
Jews,  that  economy  of  force  might  be  used  in  the  preach- 
ing of  the  disciples.  The  witnesses  were  all  in  Judea. 
The  simple  principle  of  the  economy  of  force  and  time 
dictated  that  the  land  in  which  the  witnesses  were,  all 
other  things  being  equal,  should  be  the  first  arena  of 
witnessing.  Every  unnecessary  change  of  place  involves 
a  loss  of  precious  time. 

Fifth,  the  disciples  themselves  had  need  of  being  bap- 
tized into  universal  Christianity  before  they  could  witness 
to  others  than  Jews.  The  question  which  the  Apostles 
had  asked  Christ  about  the  establishment  of  his  kingdom 


40  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

(i.  6),  shows  somewhat  of  their  circumscribed  views. 
Their  after  history  makes  it  plain  that  they  were  warped 
sadly  by  the  narrowest  prejudices.  Before  God  could  use 
them  in  their  whole  personalities  in  the  spread  of  his 
truth  among  the  Gentiles,  he  had  to  lift  them  to  a  plane 
clear  above  the  childish  and  confined  one  on  which  they 
stood  on  the  day  of  Ascension.  They  had  to  take  in  the 
truth  which  months  before  Christ  had  announced  to  the 
woman  of  Samaria,  when  he  said,  "Woman,  believe  me, 
the  hour  cometh,  when  ye  shall  neither  in  this  mountain 
nor  yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father  .  .  .  But  the 
hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  true  worshiper  shall 
worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  The  early 
Church  had  to  be  weaned  from  the  juvenile  pap  of  Juda- 
ism before  it  could  witness  abroad. 

The  foregoing  are  at  least  some  of  the  reasons  which 
made  Judea  and  Jerusalem  the  most  proper  field  of  labor 
for  the  apostolic  band  and  Church  during  the  second 
period  of  apostolic  history.  Gathering  these  reasons  up, 
we  note :  During  this  period  the  Holy  Ghost  was  leading 
the  Church  to  work  in  the  territory  in  which,  in  addition 
to  gathering  in  great  numbers,  its  incidental  service  to 
the  Church  throughout  its  entire  history  would  be  the 
greatest.  He  was  leading  the  Church  to  go  about  its  task 
of  disciplining  the  whole  world  in  a  tactical  and  strategic 
way  leading  it  to  strive  for  converts  from  the  Jews  when 
with  least  of  prejudice  they  could  accept  Christianity, 
leading  it  to  endeavor  to  get  out  of  these  vigorous  and 
powerful  people  a  body  of  effective  worker?  to  turn  loose 
on  the  rest  of  the  world  as  propagators  of  Christianity, 
studying  also,  economy  in  the  use  of  the  body  of  workers 
at  command.     In  short,  we  see  that  He  was  leading  the 


Church's  Missionary  Effort  41 

Church  of  the  period  to  labor  where  its  toil  would  result 
in  the  most  efficient  working  force  of  Christians  for  the 
achievement  of  the  great  task  of  the  future. 

Acting,  thus  far,  on  Christ's  plan,  the  disciples,  by 
the  Spirit's  aid,  had  won  for  Christ  a  great  body  of  fol- 
lowers among  God's  chosen  people.  Chapters  ii.  to  vi., 
inclusive,  of  Acts,  show  that  the  progress  of  the  Christian 
movement  in  Judea  during  this  period  became  like  that 
of  a  swelling  river.  At  length  the  time  came  when  the 
levees  which  confined  this  beneficent  stream  to  Judea 
should  have  been  cut  by  the  disciples,  and  vivifying 
channels  should  have  been  carried  into  the  arid  wastes 
of  the  non- Jewish  world.  The  work  in  Judea  had  reached 
the  stage  at  which  the  witnesses  of  Jesus  should  have 
begun  to  go  into  the  regions  beyond.  The  truth  of  the 
resurrection  had  been  amply  confirmed.  God  had  suffi- 
ciently magnified  his  mercy  to  the  seed  of  Jacob.  A  host 
to  work  as  missionaries  had  been  secured.  The  economy 
of  force  now  demanded  the  removal  of  a  portion  of  the 
laborers  to  another  part  of  the  vineyard.  The  liberal- 
izing of  the  Jewish  converts  had  been  going  on,  as  the 
speech  of  Steven  shows'.  Everything  pointed  to  the  fact 
that  the  time  had  come  for  the  Church  to  widen  its 
sphere,  the  time  to  take  into  the  scope  of  its  endeavor 
some  more  of  the  whole  world  which  Jesus  had  commis- 
sioned it  to  disciple.  But  God's  kindlier  pointings  of 
providence,  as  well  as  his'  repeated  commands,  were  not 
respected.  The  Almighty  has  often  had  to  touch  his 
people  to  remind  them  that  he  has  spoken.  He  had  to 
quicken  the  Apostolic  Church  at  this  juncture.  Up  to 
this  time  God  had  been  holding  in  check  the  enemies  of 
the  Church  and  mightily  confirming  the  disciples'  testi- 
mony by  granting  signs  and  wonders'  to  be  done,  leading 


42  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

Joseph  like  a  flock.  Now  he  unleashes  the  hounds  of 
persecution. 

The  stoning  of  Stephen  and  the  persecution  that  fol- 
lowed, recorded  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  chapters  of 
Acts,  make  another  epoch.  The  witnessing,  well  done 
among  the  Jews,  while  not  discontinued  there,  is  to  be 
done  now  in  Samaria ;  and  God  sends  the  disciples  there, 
though  it  takes  a  persecution  in  Judea  to  do  it. 

3rd.  Why  was  the  witnessing  next  in  Samaria?  As 
we  have  seen,  during  the  previous  period  of  witness-  bear- 
ing, the  minds  of  the  disciples  had  been  in  constant 
preparation  for  wider  work.  The  spiritual  nature  of 
Christ's  kingdom  had  taken  a  fuller  hold  on  them.  They 
had  come  to  regard  heaven  as  the  throne  of  God,  the 
earth  as  his  footstool,  and  no  house  or  place  as  large 
enough  to  contain  Him.  Their  absolute  confidence  in  the 
support  and  guidance  of  the  ascended  Christ  had  been 
made  firmer.  Their  likeness  to  him  in  his  universal  love 
for  man  had  become  more  thorough-going.  They  were 
more  able  to  feel  his  love  for  all  men,  Jews  and  Gentiles 
as  well.  Their  personal  devotion  to  Christ  had  been  deep- 
ened. But,  though  freed,  in  a  degree,  of  prejudice,  the 
minds  of  the  disciples  were  still  biased.  They  were  still 
Tews,  with  much  of  the  Jews'  sense  of  superiority  to 
other  peoples,  and  most  of  the  Jews'  horror  at  the  life 
of  the  uncircumcised.  And  it  was  manifest  that  if  a 
people  existed  outside  the  pale  of  Jewry  with  whom  an 
affiliation  was  more  easily  possible  that  with  any  other, 
it  was  the  Samaritan.  This  zvas,  perhaps,  the  chief 
rea.son  why  the  Gospel  was  to  be  carried  next  to  the 
Samaritans.  The  Jewish  Christians  could  mingle  with 
Samaritans  with  comparative  ease.  The  Samaritans  were 
circumcised,  and  would  submit  to  any  Jewish  rite  which 
the  older  Church  in  Jerusalem  might  impose. 


Church's  Missionary  Effort  43 

A  second  reason  why  the  Gospel  was  to  be  carriea 
next  into  Samaria  after  its  carrying  into  Judea,  was  the 
consideration  that  the  Samaritans  had  some  truth,  and 
were  thus  prepared  to  receive  more.  They  had  the  books 
of  Moses,  and  from  then  an  approximately  correct  notion 
of  God.  They  had  shared  in  the  belief  of  a  comins: 
Messiah.  There  were  probably  many  earnest  and  devout 
spirits  among  them.  They  had  received  and  profited  by 
some  wayside  teaching  of  our  Lord  while  he  was  engaged 
in  his  earthly  ministry.  Their  receiving  the  first  wit- 
nessing outside  of  Judea  was  an  example  of  the  general 
principle,  "To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given." 

Reasons'  analogous  to  some  of  those  which  dictated 
the  evangelization  of  Judea  first  might  be  added  as  among 
those  that  determined  the  evangelization  of  Samaria 
second.  But  the  suggestion  is  enough  for  the  student. 
The  cords  of  Zion  were  lengthened  and  the  stakes 
strengthened  by  working  the  representatives  of  the  cross 
where  they  were  capable  of  working  with  effect,  taking 
advantage  of  an  open  and  convenient  door.  The  field 
seems  to  have  been  worked  rapidly  and  perhaps  lightly; 
as  befitted  the  history  and  nature  of  that  religion  mixing 
and  generally  unimportant  people. 

In  following  God's  plan  as  to  the  work  in  Samaria, 
the  disciples  had  taken  a  long  stride  toward  universal 
Christianity.  They  had  opened  their  doors  to  a  multi- 
tude which  no  man  could  number,  which  was  not  found 
in  Samaria  certainly.  They  had  taken  down  the  great 
wall  of  partition  that  cut  off  the  blessed  light  from  the 
non-Jewish  world.  The  Jewish  Christian  Church  nafl 
split  its  shell  and  prepared  for  a  higher  stage  of  life. 
In  taking  in  the  Samaritans,  the  whole  Jewish  Church  in 
Christ  had  made  ready  for  the  final  step  into  universal 
Christianitv. 


44  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

Meanwhile  God  had  prepared  two  men,  under  whose 
leadership  Jewish  Christianity  was  to  make  the  final  step 
of  transition  into  this  universal  Christianity.  God  had 
said :  "Ye  shall  be  witnesses'  unto  me,  both  in  Jerusalem 
and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost 
part  of  the  earth."  The  Church  may  lag,  but  God  works ! 
He  had  prepared  Paul  and  Peter.  "The  blood  of  martyrs 
is  the  seed  of  the  Church."  The  fruit  of  the  martyrdom 
of  Stephen  was,  in  part,  the  Apostle  Paul.  Saul  was 
allowed  to  continue  for  a  time  his  persecutions,  but  at 
length,  under  God's  further  providence  toward,  and  mira- 
culous grace  upon  him,  he  took  up  the  work  which  had 
cost  Stephen  his  life. 

Peter  had  heard  the  great  commission  from  the  lips 
of  his  Lord,  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  all  the  world,  and 
the  solemn  words  of  the  text,  and  much  more  to  the 
same  purport.  But  men  are  slow  to  learn,  even  inspired 
men  and  apostles,  and  God  was  under  the  necessity  of 
teaching  Peter  again  by  providence  and  miracle.  Accord,r 
ingly,  by  the  vision  of  the  unclean  which  had  been 
cleansed,  by  the  commission  to  go  to  the  house  of  Cor- 
nelius, and  by  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon 
the  household  of  that  devout  Centurion,  God  had  taught 
Peter  to  receive  the  Gentiles  into  his  Church. 

Thus  had  God  prepared  them  to  lead  his  Church  into 
broader  views'  of  Christianity.  Meanwhile,  certain  ob- 
scure Christians  had  begun  to  work  in  the  regions  beyond 
Judea  and  Samaria.  Thank  God  for  the  good  that  ob- 
scure Christians  have  done,  and  can  do. 

Some  obscure  Christians  who  had  been  driven  from 
Jerusalem  and  had  gone  as  far  as  Antioch,  had  preached 
there  to  the  Gentiles.  The  Church  of  Jerusalem  Had 
sent  Barnabas'  to  take  care  of  the  converts  and  help  on 


Church's  Missionary  Effort  45 

the  work.  Barnabas  soon  called  in  Saul  of  Tarsus  to 
help  him. 

The  fourth  period  of  Apostolic  history  was  now  be- 
gun. Christianity  had  doffed  its  Jewish  dress.  Under 
the  moving  of  the  Holy  Spirit  the  Church  sends  picked 
men,  among  them  Barnabas  and  Saul,  to  the  Gentiles 
beyond. 

The  mighty  missionary  conquests  of  the  Apostolic 
age  were  pushed  with  Napoleonic  vigor  and  seraphic  de- 
votion by  Paul  and  his  helpers.  Asia  Minor,  Macedonia, 
Greece,  Italy,  and  Spain  perhaps,  were  overrun  by  this 
band  of  the  army  of  Christ.  Acts,  chapters  xvi.-xxviii., 
gives'  us  only  a  part  of  the  course  of  Paul.  The  most 
reHable  traditions  indicate  that  what  Paul  was  doing  in 
one  direction  the  other  Apostles  were  doing  in  other 
directions.  Now  and  again  the  Church  had  to  pause  to 
fortify  herself  in  positions  already  taken.  Such  a  pause 
was  the  council  of  Jerusalem,  to  stop  the  putting  Chris- 
tianity back  into  its  Jewish  dress,  which  it  had  continued 
to  wear  as  long  as  the  converts  were  all  Jews.  But  the 
pauses  were  brief.  The  world  was  hers ;  and  Christian- 
ity, the  world  religion,  went  forth  to  conquer  the  world 
to  its  uttermost  part.  In  the  conquering  effort  the  Church 
used  the  methods,  evangelistic,  literary,  medical,  and, 
within  limits,  the  educational  and  industrial. 

The  law  of  missionary  endeavor  in  this  period  among 
the  Gentiles  continued  to  be :  To  bear  witness  as  filled 
with  the  Holy  Spirit,  first,  to  Jews,  and  then  to  Samari- 
tans, and  then  to  Gentiles.  The  witnesses  went  first  to 
the  Jews,  and  then  to  the  proselytes,  and  then  to  the 
Gentiles:  "Ye  shall  receive  power,  after  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  come  upon  you ;  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto 
me  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria, 


46  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth."  The  latter 
half  of  these  words  has  more  than  a  geographical  signi- 
ficance. Their  order  is  significant.  The  Gospel  was  to 
be  preached,  iirst,  in  one  place,  then  in  another,  and  then 
in  the  other.  Their  significance  is  still  more  inclusive. 
The  gospel  was  to  be  preached  to  different  kinds  of 
peoples — peoples  differently  related  to  the  kingdom  of 
God, — in  a  given  order.  These  words  contain,  in  part, 
the  plan  of  God  for  the  Church's  testifying,  the  divinely 
revealed  principle  to  be  applied  in  its  propagation.  It 
may  be  difficult  to  state  the  principle  well.  But  taking 
the  words  in  their  setting,  and  bearing  in  mind  the  chief 
end  of  man,  which  must  condition  the  interpretation  of 
all  such  passages,  they  seem  to  yield  the  following:  The 
CJiurch  shall  -first  get  the  truth  and  the  certainty  that  it 
has  the  truth,  then  it  shall  witness  where  its  witnessing 
imll  result  in  the  most  effective  additional  army  of  wit- 
ness-hearers, for  the  future.  Perhaps  we  do  best  to 
leave  the  law  as  set  forth  in  its  living  concrete  form  in 
Holy  Writ,  only  endeavoring  to  see  its'  whole  content  of 
meaning. 

Having  seen  how  this  prophecy  was  wrought  out  in 
tl-ie  apostolic  age,  and  the  principle  that  lay  imbedded  in 
it,  it  remains  to  draw  from  it  some  corollaries  for  the 
Church's  guidance  in  our  own  day.     Amongst  these  are : 

First.  The  missionary  society  of  to-day,  and  the 
Church  should  be  the  missionary  society,  should  know 
God's  truth  and  know  that  it  knows  it,  and  have  the  cour- 
age to  stand  for  it  against  all  antagonists.  Why  were  the 
disciples  bidden  to  wait  in  Jerusalem  until  they  should 
receive  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost?  In  part  that 
they  might  have  developed  in  them  a  capacity  of  receiv- 
ing the  truth  and  that  Holy  Ghost  might  make  to  them 


Church's  Missionary  Effort  47 

unmistakably  plain  that  the  truth  zi'as  theirs,  and  that 
they  had,  in  the  truth,  the  instrument  of  salvation.  He 
made  more  clear  to  them  the  truth  they  already  had.  He 
communicated  other  truth  to  them.  And  one  of  the 
things  which  a  church  of  this  age  needs  is  to  get  hold, 
by  consecrated  effort  and  the  Spirit's  help,  of  the  truth 
into  which  the  Spirit  led  the  Apostles, — is  to  know  the 
truth  we  seem  to  preach,  to  knoiv  it  and  know  that  ti'c 
know  it. 

The  disciples  were  bidden  to  wait  in  Jerusalem,  in 
part  also,  that  their  fidelity  might  be  tried  and  strength- 
ened. The  Church  would  be  better  ofif  to-day  with  fewer 
men  and  more  Christian  manhood.  It  needs  men  who 
dare  to  stand  for  it  against  all,  and  live  faithfully.  If 
the  Church  could  preach  the  truth  with  apostolic  cer- 
tainty, and  live  the  truth  with  Apostolic  fidelity,  it  would 
soon  do  its  part  in  winning  the  whole  world  for  Christ. 

Second.  The  Church  should  preach  Christianity  as  a 
religion  accredited  by  genuine  miracles.  Why  did  the 
Apostles  linger  at  Jerusalem  to  witness  first  there?  In 
part,  to  make  the  stronger  testimony  for  the  resurrection 
of  Christ ;  to  make  themselves  the  better  able  to  preach 
a  religion  vindicated  as  divine  in  its  origin  by  miracles. 
It  is  fashionable  to-day  in  certain  quarters  of  our  country 
to  instruct  young  missionaries'  to  make  nothing  of  the 
miraculous  side  of  Christianity.  They  are  instructed  to 
call  attention  rather  to  its  superior  moral  code,  "as  the 
world  does  not  receive  the  miraculous  readily."  Now. 
we  are  to  be  discreet  in  presenting  religion,  of  course. 
But  Christianity  uneviscerated  has  to  do  with  miracles, 
and  can  be  ultimately  proven  to  the  spiritually  unen- 
lightened only  by  miracle.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  bound  up 
his   system   with   the   claim   of   miraculous  powers   and 


48  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

miraculous  acts'  in  such  a  way  that,  on  the  one  hand, 
miracles  are  a  part  of  his  teaching,  and,  on  the  other,  his 
system  cannot  be  proven  true  if  his  miracles  are  denied 
or  disused.  The  Church  should  faithfully  preach  the 
Gospel,  not  bereft  of  the  miraculous'  element,  though  it 
may  be  foolishness  to  the  Japanese  and  a  stumbling- 
block  to  the  Chinaman. 

Third.  The  Church  should  learn  adequately  the  reli- 
gious condition  of  the  world,  so  as  to  know  where  it  can 
most  effectively  push  its  witnessing  for  Christ,  and  should 
push  it  there. 

If  we  have  been  even  approximately  right  in  giving 
the  reasons  why  the  witness  was  to  be  first  in  Jerusalem 
and  in  all  Judea,  then  in  Samaria,  t^en  in  the  Gentile 
world,  then  this  duty  of  the  Church  of  to-day  must  seem 
very  plain.  The  Church  cannot  otherwise  follow  the 
plan  of  God ;  cannot  distinguish  the  Jew,  Samaritan,  and 
the  Gentile ;  cannot  witness  to  the  best  effect,  cannot  wit- 
ness so  as  to  make  to-morrow's  host  of  witnesses  the 
most  effective. 

Are  our  people,  our  elders,  our  ministers,  earnest 
enough  in  acquainting  themselves  with  the  relative  op- 
portunities in  the  different  parts  of  the  home  fields — the 
relative  opportunity  in  the  Black  Belt  in  Virginia,  say, 
and  in  Arkansas — and  the  relative  needs  in  the  great 
regions  beyond  ?  Do  they  ask,  as  they  should,  where  they 
can  work  the  work  that  will  count  most  for  Christ?  Or, 
is  there  in  missions  case  after  case  of  zeal  without  knowl- 
edge— of  blind  hitting  out,  if,  perchance,  something  may 
be  done?  Are  there  other  cases  where  selfish  considera- 
tions are  all-determining,  e.  g.,  the  desire  to  work  up 
a  little  corner  in  one's  own  Presbytery  because  it  is  one's 
own  ?    Is  not  blind  Sampson  a  good  image  of  the  Church 


Church's  Missionary  Effort  49 

of  to-day  as  it  works?  Thank  God,  the  Church  is  doing 
great  things' !  But  is  bHnd  Sampson  better  than  Sampson 
with  his  eyes,  and  looking  equally  to  God,  would  have 
been?  How  much  we  lose  by  reason  of  want  of  com- 
prehension of  the  situation !  Who  now  does  not  believe 
that  the  ninth  decade  was  the  decade  in  which  the  Chris- 
tian Church  should  have  taken  the  Japanese  for  Christ? 
The  hour  passed  and  Japan  was  not  taken. 

To  some  the  demand  that  the  Church  should  get  a 
good  outlook  on  the  condition  of  the  world  so  as  to 
judge  intelligently  as  to  where  to  strike  for  Christ  may 
seem  very  large ;  but  is  not  God  wont  to  make  big  de- 
mands of  us  ?  And  does  he  not  demand  the  use  of  every 
power  ?  And  has  he  ever  granted  to  the  man  of  business 
the  right  to  wrap  himself  in  secular  affairs  so  as  not  to 
be  able  to  study  to  see  where  he  can  do  most  to  forward 
the  kingdom  of  God?  Has  he  given  a  right  to  any 
preacher  to  preach  on,  where  he  happens  to  be  born,  with- 
out asking  where  he  can  serve  God   best? 

The  passage  before  us  teaches  that  there  should  be 
the  wisest  circumspection — the  fields  of  effort  chosen 
with  the  greatest  care  and  chosen  with  the  simple  view  of 
forwarding  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  makes  a  demand  for 
no  inconsiderable  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  Church 
in  general.  It  makes  a  demand  for  a  commanding 
knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  ministers  and  leaders  of 
the  Church.  No  system  of  theological  education  can  be 
complete  which  does  not  give  the  student  at  least  some 
hold  on  the  religious  condition  of  the  world ;  which  does 
not  set  before  him  with  some  precision  the  great  problem 
in  the  solution  of  which  he  is  to  pour  out  his  life ;  which 
does  not  begin  to  answer  for  him  the  question  as  to 
where  there  is  the  greatest  need  of  workers  in  order  to 


50  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

the  proper  forwarding  of  the  work.  To  hold  any  other 
position  is  to  avow  one's  self  a  trifler.  Especially  should 
our  secretaries  of  the  work  at  home  and  abroad  know 
the  field  and  where  the  harvest  is  ripe.  They,  of  all 
men,  should  never  forget  that  the  missionary  is  to  search 
not  for  captives,  but  for  recruits  in  the  army  of  witness- 
bearers  in  which  they  are  captains;  that  the  Church 
should  be  hunting  for  the  most  effective  additions  to 
God's  servants.  Nor  should  they  forget  that  they  are 
to  consult  the  economy  of  force  and  time,  whetlier  that 
economy  demands  concentrating  of  force  on  a  given  field, 
or  scattering  the  force ;  and  that  they  are  to  consult  the 
currents  of  race  prejudice  and  a  host  of  such  like  things. 

Fourth.  The  Church  should  select  its  instruments  for 
the  several  parts  of  its  witness-bearing  according  to  their 
several  kinds  and  degrees  of  fitness'.  This  is  implied  in 
the  foregoing  points,  but  deserves  specific  statement.  It 
was  illustrated  in  apostolic  history.  Should  not  our  mis- 
sionary secretaries  from  year  to  year  be  writing  to  the 
Presbyteries  to  indicate  to  them  their  young  men  judged 
by  them  to  be  fitted  for  mission  work? 

Under  the  guidance  of  the  Church  courts  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  Paul  was'  sent  to  the  Gentiles.  Why?  Be- 
cause by  the  breadth  of  his  intellect  and  heart  he  was  the 
fittest  Christian  of  the  day  for  the  work.  Previously, 
the  Holy  Ghost  had  sent  Peter  to  receive,  by  baptism,  the 
first  uncircumcised  converts  into  the  Christian  Church. 
Why  ?  Peter  was  the  man  for  such  a  bold  innovation  on 
seeing  that  it  was  right. 

The  Holy  Ghost  reveals  not  his  guidance  in  such 
miraculous  wise  in  the  present.  But  he  speaks  through 
the  Church  when  he  will.  The  Church  courts  may  act 
under  his  guidance.    And  the  Church  through  her  courts 


Church's  Missionary  Effort  51 

should  choose  all  her  special  agents  carefully.  The  r> 
untary  clement  has  had  too  large  a  place  in  missions  at 
home  and  abroad,  as  it  has  had  in  determining  zvho  shall 
be  ministers.  It  has  too  large  a  place  now.  The  courts 
should  pick  the  men  for  all  the  places,  especially  for  the 
hard  places.  The  Lord  prefers  to  win  his  great  victories 
by  the  three  hundred  chosen  according  to  his  own  test, 
rather  than  by  ten  thousand  simple  volunteers,  though 
they  be  men  of  courage.  To  illustrate,  if  our  courts  had 
picked  with  sufficient  care,  our  home  missionaries',  that 
work  would  be  better  supported ;  if  they  had  picked  with 
sufficient  care  our  foreign  missionaries,  there  had  been 
fewer  returned  missionaries,  and  with  larger  results, 
perhaps. 

Fifth.  Inclusively,  the  Church  should  study  day  by 
day  to  secure  the  most  efficient  additional  army  of  wit- 
ness-bearers. It  should  study  to  know  God's  plan,  and 
should  fall  in  with  it.  God  says'  to  the  Christians  of  this 
age :  "Ye  shall  receive  power,  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
has  come  upon  you ;  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me 
in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea,  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the 
ut-termost  part  of  the  earth."  Ye  shall  witness  in  that 
order  which  shall  result  in  the  most  effective  increase  to 
the  army  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  Lord  give  his 
Church  the  grace  to  do  this  great  thing  which  he  has 
commanded ! 

Sixth.  While,  in  accord  with  the  apostolic  model, 
the  evangelistic  method  should  be  largely  used  in  the  pro- 
pagation of  the  Gospel,  the  history  of  the  apostolic  effort 
shows  that  the  literary  arm,  the  medical  and  the  indus- 
trial arms  perhaps,  have  the  sanction  of  apostolic  example. 

In  conclusion,  the  Church  should  consider  whether 
God  may  not  make  it  suffer  if  it  lags  in  the  outworking 


52  Introduction  to  Christian  I^Iissions 

of  his  plan.  If  his  plan  is  such  as'  has  been  represented 
in  the  preceding  pages,  the  Church,  working  according 
to  any  other,  must  have  a  relatively  feeble  growth.  No 
plan  can  be  so  good  for  God's  Church  as  his  own.  The 
adoption  of  any  other  plan  is,  that  far,  apostasy  more- 
over, and  the  apostate  always  suffers'.  Out  of  fear  of 
the  sons  of  Anak,  the  Israelites  would  not  enter  Canaan 
according  to  God's  plan.  Their  bones  strewed  the  desert. 
They  tired  of  God's  nile  over  them  in  the  time  of  Samuel ; 
they  got  an  earthly  king,  but  he  became  possessed  of  an 
evil  spirit.  The  history  of  the  people  of  God  is  proof, 
the  most  convincing,  that  they  should  follow  his  plan, 
even  if  it  does  seem  difficult. 


LECTURE  III. 

Paul's  Sense  of  his  Obligation  to  Missions  and  the 
Way  in  which  He  Responded  to  It. 

In  the  first  lecture  we  endeavored  to  show  that  the 
Church  is  the  missionary  society  ordained  of  God,  that  all 
its  members  are  virtually  pledged  as  such  to  missionary 
effort;  and  that  they  rest  under  an  imperative  and  rela- 
tively exclusive  obligation  to  fulfill  their  pledge.  In  the 
second  lecture  we  endeavored  to  set  forth  the  principle, 
divinely  revealed,  which  should  regulate  the  Church's 
missionary  effort,  and  to  draw  out  some  of  the  more 
evident  corollaries,  of  proper  application  to  the  Church 
of  to-day  in  its  effort  to  propagate  the  faith.  In  ;this'  lec- 
ture we  propose  to  take  up  the  great  outstanding  mission- 
ary of  the  apostolic  age,  observe  his  sense  of  the  obli- 
gation to  be  missionary  himself  and  how  he  responded 
to  the  obligation. 

That  we  may  bring  the  truth  home  the  better,  when  we 
have  brought  it  out  concerning  him,  we  shall  ask  whether 
on  some  of  the  same  grounds  with  Paul  the  whole  Church 
of  to-day  should  not  be  adjudged  under  obligations  to  be 
missionary ;  and,  finally,  we  shall  raise  the  further  ques- 
tion, whether  Christians  of  to-day  are  meeting  their  obli- 
gations in  the  matter. 

Taking  up  Paul's  sense  of  obligation  to  be  missionary : 
He  has  left  the  world  no  possibility  of  doubt  on  this 
subject.  He  says,  in  Rom.  i.  14,  "For  I  am  a  debtor  hath 
to  the  Greeks  and  also  to  the  Barbarians;  both  to  the 
wise  and  also  to  the  unzvise."    He  tells  us  here  that  he 


54  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

owes  the  giving  of  the  Gospel  to  these  peoples.  The 
context  makes  it  clear  that  the  thing  be  owed,  the  thing 
he  had  in  mind  when  he  says,  "I  am  a  debtor,"  was  the 
giving  of  the  Gospel.  Before  penning  the  text  he  wrote 
to  the  Roman  Christians  that  he  bad  longed  to  see  them, 
that  he  might  impart  unto  them  some  spiritual  gift  to  the 
end  that  they  might  be  established,  that  he  and  they  might 
be  comforted  together,  by  the  mutual  faith  both  of  them 
and  him ;  and  that  he  had  longed  to  have  some  fruit 
among  them  also  even  as  among  other  Gentiles.  Having 
uttered  the  confession  of  obligation,  "I  am  a  debtor,"  etc., 
he  immediately  adds,  "So,  as  much  as  in  me  is,  T  am 
ready  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  you  that  are  in  Rome  also." 
Hence  some  of  the  best  commentators,  as  Drs.  Charles 
Hodge,  and  Shedd,  supply  the  word  ebajyeU^oodac 
which  means  to  preach  the  Gospel,  after  the  word  debtor : 
"I  am  a  debtor  to  preach  the  Gospel,  both  to  the  Greeks 
and  also  to  the  Barbarians." 

When  Paul  declares  his  obligation  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  Greeks  and  also  to  the  Barbarians,  he  makes 
a  division  of  peoples'  for  the  purpose  of  including  all, — 
a  division  that  was  common  among  the  classic  Greeks. 
The  Eleatic  stranger  in  Plato's  Statesman  says,  "In  this 
part  of  the  world,  they  cut  off  the  Greeks  as  one  species, 
and  all  the  other  species  of  mankind  they  include  under 
the  single  name  of  'barbarians'."  Paul  professes  himself 
to  be  under  obligation  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  all  peoples 
according  to  opportunity,  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  non- 
Greeks.  He  is  to  preach,  also,  to  the  wise,  to  those  who 
are  cultured  and  learned,  and  he  is  to  preach  to  the  un- 
wise, to  the  simple,  to  those  who  are  without  culture  and 
without  learning.  He  is  to  preach  to  all  peoples ;  he  is  to 
preach  to  the  wise  of  all  peoples,  and  to  the  unwise  of  all 


Paul's  Obligation  to  Missions  55 

peoples, — to  all  classes  of  all  peoples.  In  short  he  pro- 
fesses his  obligation  to  give  the  Gospel  to  all  the  world 
so  far  as  opportunity  offers  and  ability  enables. 

It  ought  to  be  a  profitable  thing  for  us,  my  brethren, 
to  consider  the  grounds  of  this  obligation  which  Paul 
professes  as  resting  on  him,  to  consider  how  he  responded 
to  it,  to  raise  the  question  as  to  whether  a  similar  obliga- 
tion rests  on  Church  members  of  to-day;  and  if  that  be 
true,  to  consider  the  further  question  as  to  how  we  are 
responding  to  the  obligation  resting  on  us? 

I.  In  the  first  place,  then,  let  us  note  the  grounds  on 
zvhich  Paul  had  a  right  to  conclude  that  he  was  under 
obligation  to  give  the  Gospel  to  all  the  zvorld,  according 
to  abilities  and  opportunities  given  him. 

We  remark,  ist,  that  Paul  was  under  an  imperative 
obligation  to  work  for  the  increased  zvell-being  of  all 
men,  on  the  ground  that  he  zvas  his  brother's  keeper.  The 
law  which  has'  been  expressed  in  the  form,  "Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,"  was  concreated  in  the 
heart  of  man.  Had  God  never  said  to  man  in  words, 
"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,"  it  would  have 
been  man's  duty  to  love  his  fellow-man, — to  be  his 
brother's  keeper.  Had  Paul  known  neither  Gospel  nor 
law,  it  would  have  been  his  duty  to  share  whatsoever 
good  things  he  possessed  with  those  who  lacked.  His 
fellow-men  were  God's  creatures  as  well  as  he.  With 
them  as'  God's  creatures,  he  God's  creature  and  made  in 
the  divine  image,  was  morally  bound  to  share  the  greater 
riches  he  possessed.  He  was  morally  bound  thus  to  serve 
God  in  the  service  of  his  creatures.  The  more  valuable  the 
gifts  to  him,  the  greater  his  obligation  to  share  them  with 
his  fellows  and  thus  give  them  occasion  for  gratitude 
and  devotion  to  the  common  Creator  and  providential 


56  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

ruler.  Give  Paul  the  Gospel,  and  in  the  absence  of  ex- 
press command  to  carry  his  brother  the  Gospel,  it  is  his 
duty  to  carry  that  good  news  to  his  fellow-man  wherever 
he  can  be  found  the  world  over.  As  his  brother's  keeper, 
he  is  bound  to  share  the  Gospel  with  every  accessible 
brother ;  he  is  bound  to  try  to  secure  access  to  the  remote 
and  hitherto  inaccessible  and  to  share  it  with  him  up  to 
the  limit  of  his  powers  and  opportunities.  It  is  his  duty 
to  declare  the  glory  of  God's  grace  to  his  brother  as  ex- 
hibited in  the  Gospel ;  his  duty  to  open  the  way  for  that 
brother's  fuller  appreciation  of,  and  higher  service  of, 
God;  his  duty  to  give  that  brother  a  chance  to  secure  a 
nobler  well-being,  and  to  evolve  himself,  as  helped  by 
the  divine  grace,  into  a  nobler  servant  of  God. 

Let  us  observe  that  this  ground  of  obligation  holds, 
however  unworthy  Paul's  brothers  may  be.  Suppose  he 
knows  that  stoning  awaits  him  at  their  hands  as  at 
Lystra,  or  stripes'  as  at  Philippi,  or  bonds  and  imprison- 
ments as  at  Jerusalem,  Caesarea  and  Rome,  he  is  still 
under  obligation  to  preach  the  Gospel  at  Lystra,  at  Phil- 
ippi, at  Jerusalem,  at  Caesarea  and  at  Rome ;  not,  it  may 
be,  under  obligations  to  these  peoples  in  themselves  con- 
sidered, but  viewed  as  the  creatures  of  God.  He  owes 
it  to  God  to  serve  Him  by  serving  God's  creatures  who 
need  the  service. 

This  concreated  law  has  been  reinforced  by  its  publi- 
cation in  the  Decalogue.  In  that  code,  God  brought  out  in 
preceptive  form  the  principles'  which  were  of  right  in 
force  prior  to  their  annunciation  in  word.  On  the  tables 
of  stone  the  Almighty  fingered  the  eternal  principles  of 
right,  and  gave  to  them  the  added  force  of  articulately 
enacted  law,  divinely  revealed  precept.  To  Paul  the  law 
came  not  only  as  eternal  principle,  but  also  as  the  re- 


Paul's  Obligation  to  Missions  57 

vealed  will  of  God.  Hence  he  felt  the  obligation  to  give 
the  Gospel  to  all  men  to  be  imperative. 

We  remark,  2nd,  the  obligation  implied  in  discipleship 
to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  demanded  of  a  man  of  Paul's 
gifts  and  opportunities  that  he  should  devote  himself  to 
the  immediate  work  of  spreading  the  Gospel  among  all 
peoples  and  all  classes. 

Paul  was  wonderfully  endowed  to  be  a  propagator  of 
any  faith  he  should  espouse.  Homely  in  appearance,  per- 
haps, he  was  yet  intensely  magnetic.  He  drew  men  and 
bound  them  to  him  as'  with  bands  of  steel.  He  had  the 
largeness  of  character  that  enabled  him  to  appreciate  men 
of  all  nations  and  all  climes.  Appreciating  others,  he  was 
himself  appreciated.  He  had  a  mind  to  grasp  with  mas- 
terful ease  the  great  principles  of  his  religious  system,  to 
discern  with  logical  certainty  and  exactness  their  corol- 
laries, and  to  body  them  forth  in  language,  always  of 
vigor  and  power,  sometimes  of  rare  charm,  beauty  and 
sublimity.  If  to  some  ears  his  speech  was  wanting  in 
polish,  he  was  nevertheless  a  man  of  broad  culture  and 
the  vastest  learning.  His  energy  of  will  and  his  power  to 
execute  his  plans  were  Titanic. 

The  man  of  this  rare  combination  of  gifts  looked 
forth  on  fields  white  to  the  harvest  to  which  our  Saviour 
had  pointed;  he  saw  the  fewness  of  the  laborers,  the 
vast  extent  of  the  field;  and  that  there  was  no  insuperable 
obstacle  to  his  devoting  himself  immediately  to  the  pro- 
pagation of  the  Christian  faith. 

He  knew  that,  when  Jesus  saved  him  from  the  conse- 
quences of  sin,  He  saved  him  as  his  absolute  Lord, — saved 
him  that  thenceforth  Paul  might  be  his  servant.  He 
heartily  acquiesced  in  this.  At  the  very  beginning  of  his 
Christian  life,  he  inquired  of  the  glorified  Saviour  who 


58  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

had  appeared  to  him  on  the  way  to  Damascus,  "Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  do  ?"  He  continued  to  hold  that 
he  ought  to  be  devoted  to  the  business  of  his'  Lord.  Far 
on  in  life  we  hear  him  say  that  Christ  "died  for  all,  that 
they  which  live,  should  not  henceforth  live  unto  them- 
selves, but  unto  him  which  died  for  them  and  rose  again." 
Thus  he  makes  the  very  purpose  of  Christ's  death  to 
have  been  that  he  should  win  men  who  should  take  up 
his  work  and  carry  it  on. 

In  becoming  a  disciple  of  Christ  he  had  to  do  so  on 
Christ's  terms,  he  had  to  make  a  place  in  his  heart  and 
life  for  Christ  and  his  cause  which  was  foremost ;  and 
this  necessary  condition  of  true  discipleship  was  in  accord 
with  right.  God  in  Christ  had  bought  him  with  His  own 
precious  blood.  He  had  sanctified  him  by  His  own  Spirit. 
In  due  time  He  would  take  him  to  glory.  Paul  had  no 
choice  but  to  feel  that  his  chief  duty,  as  a  disciple  of 
Christ,  was  to  spread  the  Gospel  world-wide,  to  push  for- 
ward the  great  cause  that  lay  nearest  the  heart  of  his 
crucified  Lord.  Apart  from  any  call  to  the  Apostleship, 
Paul  must  have  been  a  religious  teacher  to  his  people  and 
time,  unless  he  could  have  done  more  to  secure  the  spread 
of  the  kingdom  in  some  other  way.  For  it  was  clear  to 
him  that  the  disciple  must  give  himself  to  the  course 
most  furthering  of  his  Lord's  cause. 

We  remark,  3rd,  Paul  had  received  an  open  and  ex- 
press call  to  give  the  Gospel  to  those  who  had  it  not,  and 
especially  to  the  Gentiles,  as  an  apostolic  missionary. 

Paul's  age  was  an  extraordinary  age.  There  was 
an  extraordinary  need ;  he  had  an  extraordinary  designa- 
tion to  his  work.  Rather,  he  received  a  succession  of 
such  designations'.  The  glorified  Saviour,  appearing  to 
the  arch-persecutor  on  the  way  to  Damascus,  said  in  an- 


Paul's  Obligation  to  Missions  59 

swer  to  Saul's  "Who  art  Thou,  Lord?"  "I  am  Jesus 
whom  thou  persecutest.  But  rise,  and  stand  upon  thy 
feet :  For  I  have  appeared  unto  thee  for  this  purpose,  to 
make  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness  both  of  these  things 
which  thou  hast  seen,  and  of  those  things  in  the  which  I 
will  appear  unto  thee:  Delivering  thee  from  the  people 
and  from  the  Gentiles,  unto  whom  I  now  send  thee,  to 
open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light, 
and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,  that  they  may 
receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inheritance  among  them 
which  are  sanctified  by  faith  that  is  in  me."  (Acts  xxvi. 
15-18).  Later,  when  Paul  was  come  to  Jerusalem,  while 
he  was  praying  in  the  temple,  he  was  in  a  trance,  and 
saw  the  Lord  saying  unto  him,  "Depart,  for  I  will  send 
thee  far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles"  (Acts  xxii.  21).  Still 
later  the  Holy  Ghost  said  unto  certain  prophets  and 
teachers  at  Antioch,  "as  they  ministered  to  the  Lord  and 
fasted,"  "Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work 
whereunto  I  have  called  them."  Paul  knew  his  kind  of 
work  in  general.  It  had  been  particularly  and  miracu- 
lously designated  to  him.  He  had,  also,  specific  and  par- 
ticular directions  at  times  about  definite  portions  of  his 
work.  He  could  have  no  shadow  of  doubt  as  to  what  his 
work  was,  in  general,  according  to  God's  revealed  will. 
Often  he  had  as  little  ground  for  doubt  about  portions 
of  that  work. 

Thus'  the  moral  law,  and  the  nature  of  the  disciple- 
ship,  and  the  expressed  designation  in  a  miraculous  way, 
laid  the  obligation  on  Paul  to  give  the  Gospel  to  all  men, 
as  God  might  enable  him. 

n.  Let  us  note  the  way  in  zuhich  Paul  responded  to 
the  call  of  duty  zvhich  rested  on  him. 

He  preached  the  Gospel  over  a  wide  extent  of  terri- 


6o  Introduction  to  Christian  jNIissions 

tory.  Stop  with  Paul  a  moment  as  he  labors  at  Tarsus. 
Go  with  him  to  Antioch,  as  he  makes  his  way  thither 
upon  the  invitation  of  Barnabas.  Abide  with  him  there 
a  whole  year;  see  him  meet  with  the  Church  and  teach 
much  people.  Accompany  him  on  his  first  missionary 
tour,  through  Cyprus,  through  Perga  in  Pamphylia,  over 
the  high  passes  of  Mount  Taurus  with  its  snow-clad 
peaks  and  into  the  Pisidian  Antioch,  through  Lystra,  and 
and  Derbe,  back  through  all  these  again  to  great  Antioch 
in  Syria.  Attend  him  on  his  second  missionary  tour, 
through  Syria,  through  Asia  Minor,  across  the  Strait 
into  Europe,  to  Philippi.  Pass  with  him  through  Thes- 
salonica,  through  Berea,  through  Athens,  through  Cor- 
inth, and  back  three  or  four  years'  later,  by  way  of 
Ephesus,  Caesarea  and  Jerusalem  to  the  Syrian  Antioch. 
Follow  him  on  his  third  missionary  tour,  to  Ephesus, 
where  he  fixes  the  center  of  his  missionary  operations  for 
about  three  years ;  then  visit  with  him  churches'  in  Mace- 
donia and  Achaia,  and  Corinth,  whence  he  goes  to  Jeru- 
salem and  to  captivity  by  way  of  Philippi,  Troas,  Miletus, 
Tyre,  and  Caesarea.  Go  with  him  to  Rome,  whither 
he  goes  bound,  for  though  he  is  in  chains,  the  Gospel 
is  not  bound,  and  he  carries  the  Gospel  with  him,  as  he 
had  felt  he  ought.  Now,  reflect  that,  after  all,  the  Book 
of  Acts  gives'  us  but  a  meagre  account  of  the  activity  of 
Paul ;  and  that  we  have  followed  him  only  partially  and 
cursorily  through  the  account  as  given  in  that  book. 
Surely  Paul  preached  the  Gospel  over  a  wide  field.  His 
activity  about  the  work  of  the  Master  was  great. 

But  if  the  field  was  wide,  if  his  activity  was  great, 
his  plans  of  work  were  no  less  wise  and  strategic.  The 
principle  of  his  working  was  that  set  forth  in  Acts  i.  8. 
In  whatever  city  we  come  upon  Paul.  Ave  find  him  pur- 


Paul's  Obligation  to  Missions  6i 

suing  the  tactics  there  enjoined.  He  is  found  preaching 
first  to  the  Jews,  next  to  the  Samaritans,  the  Proselytes 
of  the  Gate,  and  next  to  the  Gentiles.  It  being  his  duty 
to  give  the  Gospel  to  all  the  world,  and  being  limited  as 
to  time  and  place,  he  is  found  striking  for  the  most 
strategic  points — places  where  the  Church,  if  set  up,  will 
be  Hkely  to  maintain  itself  and  spread.  Thus  we  find 
him  seeking  the  centres  of  trade,  commerce  and  travel, 
whence  the  news  of  the  new  and  wonderful  religion 
which  he  preaches  will  spread ;  passing  by  the  proud  and 
haughty  university  city  of  Athens  with  little  effort  and 
giving  himself  to  protracted  labor  amongst  the  plainer 
and  more  unsophisticated  but  wide-awake,  active-minded 
and  intelligent  populations  of  such  live  centres  as  Anti- 
och,  Corinth  and  Ephesus. 

Paul  did  not  scratch  the  ground  simply.  He  preached 
the  Gospel  in  its  fullness, — the  glorious  Gospel  of  the 
blessed  God,  the  Gospel,  to  an  utterly  and  hopelessly  lost 
and  ruined  world,  of  a  triune  God  with  a  boundless  love 
and  grace  to  this  lost  world,  the  Father  electing  his  own, 
the  Son  incarnating  and  humiliating  himself  to  death 
that  he  might  redeem  them  from  the  curse  of  the  law, 
the  Spirit  quickening  them, — one  and  all  making  it  the 
Divine  concern  to  render  efficacious  the  truth  which  he 
preached  and  lived.  He  preached  the  Gospel  uneviscer- 
ated, — miracles  and  all;  he  preached  it  leaning  on  the 
Spirit  who  only  makes  it  fruitful,  and  he  so  preached 
that  in  many  important  centres  great  multitudes  believed. 
We  cannot  follow  him  from  place  to  place  showing  how 
thoroughly  his  work  was  done,  in  detail ;  but  let  us  take 
his  work  at  Ephesus  as  an  example. 

Let  us  go  there  in  A.  D.  45,  before  Paul  had  begun 
his  work  in  that  place.     Let  us  visit  the  great  temple  of 


62  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

Diana,  one  of  the  most  splendid  temples  of  the  ancient 
world, — one  of  the  wonders  of  that  world.  Fix  your 
mind  not  on  the  temple  itself,  as  an  architectural  tri- 
umph ;  not  on  the  spacious  lofty  colonnades,  thrilling  the 
beholder  with  their  beauty;  but  on  the  purpose  of  that 
temple.  It  is  the  temple  not  of  the  chaste  huntress  of 
the  West,  but  of  the  Eastern  Diana.  Nor  is  the  many- 
breasted  Diana  the  only  object  of  worship.  There  are 
images  everywhere,  images  of  divers  kinds.  The  temple 
of  Diana  is  a  sort  of  pantheon.  God's  many  are  wor- 
shiped there.  The  temple  is  thronged  with  worshipers; 
and  there  is  not  a  cult  among  them  all  that  does  not  de- 
grade. Walk  about  the  streets  of  Ephesus  in  the  year 
45.  See  signs  everywhere  of  corruption.  See  particu- 
larly how  given  to  magic  the  people  are.  The  Greeks 
practice  magic;  and  even  the  Jews,  so  laden  is  the  very 
atmosphere  with  it,  practice  magic.  Go  into  the  homes ; 
see  the  idolatry  and  the  fruits'  of  idolatry  in  them, — the 
fruits  of  the  boasted  Graeco-Roman  civilization.  You 
see  a  vast  multitude  of  homes  where  the  husband  does 
not  love  his  wife,  and  the  wife  does  not  honor  the  hus- 
band, where  parents  care  not  for  their  children  and  chil- 
dren are  wanting  in  respect  for  their  parents';  where 
the  servants  are  merely  eye-servants,  and  the  masters 
and  mistresses  are  heartless  tyrants.  Such  were  many 
of  the  homes  in  Ephesus'  in  45.  Such  were  most  of  them 
perhaps.  They  were  places  without  pure  love,  places 
often  without  natural  affection,  places  without  virtue. 

Now,  let  the  twelve  years  pass :  return  to  Ephesus  in 
the  year  57.  Visit  the  temple  of  Diana  and  see  a  dim- 
inished throng  of  worshipers.  Visit  the  streets  and  see 
there  signs  of  improved  citizenship.  Stop,  however,  be- 
side the  shrine-makers'  shops ;  remark  the  fact  that  these 


Paul's  Obligation  to  Missions  63 

men  have  a  dangerous  look  on  their  faces ;  hear  theii 
talk.  They  are  mightily  aroused  against  one  Paul.  One 
of  these  men  says  to  his  fellows  something  like  this : 
"Men,  ye  know  that  by  making  shrines  for  Diana  we  have 
our  wealth.  Moreover,  ye  see  and  hear,  that  not  alone 
at  Ephesus,  but  almost  throughout  all  Asia,  this  Paul  hath 
persuaded  and  turned  away  much  people,  saying  that 
there  be  no  gods  which  are  made  with  hands ;  so  that 
not  only  this  our  craft  is  in  danger  to  be  set  at  naught, 
but  also  that  the  temple  of  the  great  goddess  Diana 
should  be  despised  and  her  magnificence  should  be  de- 
stroyed whom  all  Asia  and  the  world  worshipeth." 

Go  further;  visit  an  humble  house.  It  may  be  a 
private  dwelling  or  a  little  hall  once  used  as  a  synagogue, 
or  as  the  room  of  some  teacher  of  rhetoric,  or  philosophy, 
to  hold  his  classes  in.  See  not  only  the-  usual  signs  of 
humble,  fervent.  Christian  worship;  but  a  striking  inci- 
dent to  our  eyes  in  this  day's  worship.  Certain  persons 
come  forward  and  confess  to  the  practice  of  magic.  They 
bring  parchments,  papyri,  and  rolls,  covered  with  mystic 
symbols.  These  have  been  their  prized  possessions.  In 
some  cases  they  represent  bread  to  their  owners.  They 
had  been  making  their  livings  by  the  use  of  these  books. 
But  now  they  make  a  fire  of  them.  They  burn  them  in 
the  presence  of  all  men.  Hear  the  members  of  the 
Church  remark  to  one  another  as  they  scatter  to  their 
homes. :  Such  books — books'  of  magic — have  been 
burned  by  our  people  to  the  value  of  50,000  pieces  of 
silver.  Go  with  some  of  these  Christians  to  their  homes. 
Rest  there,  for  their  home  is  getting  to  be  a  good  place 
to  rest  in.  It  is  a  pure  place,  a  sweet  place.  The  husband 
loves'  his  wife.  He  is  willing  to  give  himself  for  his 
wife.  The  wife  honors  her  husband.   The  children  rever- 


64  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

ence  and  obey  their  parents.  The  parents  provoke  not 
their  children  to  wrath,  but  bring  them  up  in  the  nurture 
and  admonitions  of  the  Lord.  Read  the  nineteenth  chap- 
ter of  Acts,  you  will  see  that  such  results  followed  upon 
Paul's  preaching;  and  you  may  infer  with  certainty  that 
Paul  was  doing  all  his  work  with  thoroughness. 

He  does'  this  work  in  the  face  of  huge  obstacles,  and 
bitter  persecuting  opposition.  Five  times  he  received 
forty  stripes  save  one ;  thrice  was  he  beaten  with  rods ; 
once  was  he  stoned;  thrice  did  he  suffer  shipwreck;  he 
was  in  journeyings  oft,  in  perils  of  waters,  in  perils  of 
robbers,  in  perils  of  his  own  countrymen,  in  perils  by 
the  heathen,  in  perils  in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the  wilder- 
ness, in  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils  among  false  brethren, 
in  weariness  and  painfulness,  in  watchings  often,  in 
hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness. 

Not  only  so  but  he  gave  himself  incessantly  to  fortify- 
ing the  work  done.  Upon  him  daily  was  the  care  of  all 
the  Churches'.  He  could  say,  "Who  is  weak  and  I  am 
not  weak?  Who  is  offended  and  I  burn  not?"  His 
epistles  were  all  written  to  help  rectify  and  build  up 
Christians  already  won.  The  busiest  missionary,  evan- 
gelist and  organizer  of  the  apostolic  age  was  the  most 
prolific  writer.  To  the  Roman  Christians'  he  wrote  to 
give  them  in  systematic  form  the  great  scheme  of  sal- 
vation by  grace  and  to  show  them  how  to  live  in  accord 
with  it.  To  the  Corinthians  he  wrote,  to  help  them  on 
various  doctrinal  questions,  particularly  to  crush  an  ugly 
tendency  to  sectarianism,  there  being  Petrine  and  Pauline 
parties  in  the  Corinthian  Church ;  and  to  enlighten  them 
on  many  practical  questions', — the  relations  of  the  sexes, 
the  proprieties  of  worship,  the  way  to  observe  the  Lord's 
supper,  etc.     To  the  Galatians  he  wrote,  to  bring  them 


Paul's  Obligation  to  Missions  65 

back  from  an  effort  to  rehabilitate  salvation  by  law,  by 
external  observances,  to  salvation  by  grace. 

Paul  so  responded  to  his  obligation  to  give  the  world 
the  Gospel,  that  his  work  was  abiding.  He  so  firmly 
established  the  Church  under  the  good  hand  of  God  that 
it  lived  and  propagated  itself  in  the  centres  in  which  he 
labored.  Go  to  Asia  Minor  A.  D.  107.  Paul  has  been 
dead  a  good  two-score  years.  He  had  done  his  great 
work  there  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  We  can  look  over 
the  shoulder  of  Pliny,  the  Roman  ruler  of  the  region, 
and  read  a  letter  which  he  is  writing  to  the  Emperor 
Trajan.  Pliny  wishes  to  know  what  to  do  with  the 
Christians.  He  writes  that  "that  superstition,"  as  he 
calls  Christianity,  is  spreading  not  only  in  cities  but  in 
villages  and  even  in  the  country,  that  it  captivates'  all 
classes,  all  ages,  and  both  sexes.  He  declares  that  the 
temples  of  the  gods  are  almost  forsaken,  and  that  there 
is  hardly  any  sale  for  sacrificial  victims'.  He  says  that 
he  is  trying  to  stop  its  progress ;  that  he  has  condemned 
some  to  death,  and  that  he  has  sent  others  to  the  imperial 
tribunal.  He  writes  that  he  can  find  nothing  against  these 
men  and  women  except  that  they  worship  Christ  as  God. 
He  even  writes  that  they  pledge  themselves  by  an  oath 
not  to  do  any  evil  work,  to  commit  no  theft  nor  adultry, 
not  to  break  their  word,  nor  to  sacrifice  property  en- 
trusted to  them.  That  work  of  Paul  was  still  bearing 
fruit  under  the  good  hand  of  God  in  107.  And  is  it 
not  bearing  fruit  to-day  ?  Are  we  not  his'  off-spring,  and 
the  off-spring  of  his  helpers  in  that  work  down  to  this 
day? 

Surely  Paul  acquitted  himself  well  of  his  responsi- 
bilities as  called  to  give  the  Gospel  to  all  classes  of 
peoples.     He  preached  over  a  wide  extent  of  territory. 


66  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

He  pursued  wise  tactics,  preaching  in  order  to  Jews, 
proselytes  of  the  gate,  and  Gentiles.  He  planned  his 
work  so  as  to  make  it  count  for  the  most,  looking  out 
strategic  points  and  planting  churches  in  them  which 
would  take  all  the  contiguous  territory.  He  so  preached 
as  to  have  much  fruit  in  the  lives  of  his  spiritual  children. 
He  preached  a  full  and  saving  gospel.  He  so  preached 
as  to  secure  great  and  efficient  growth  of  the  Church. 
He  did  his  work  in  the  face  of  tremendous  difficulties'. 
He  did  his  work  so  solidly  that  it  was  not  evanescent  but 
permanent.  Good  ground  had  he  for  saying,  late  in  life, 
so  far  as  this  aspect  of  his  course  is  concerned,  "I  have 
fouglit  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course." 

in.  Let  us  ask  whether  a  like  obligation  to  that 
which  rested  on  Paul  does  not  rest  on  you,  my  brethren. 

We  maintain  that  a  like  obligation  does  rest  on  you. 
As  certainly  as  you  are  a  man,  so  certain  is  it  that  the 
obligation  to  love  your  neighbor  as  yourself,  to  be  your 
brother's  keeper,  rests  upon  you,  even  apart  from  its 
special  injunction  in  the  Decalogue.  Moreover,  as  cer- 
tainly as  you  are  a  man,  so  certain  is  it  that  the  second 
table  of  the  Decalogue  binds  you  to  love  your  neighbor 
as  yourself.  The  only  way  of  escaping  the  force  of  this 
contention  is  to  show  that  you  are  irrational  and  irre- 
sponsible, like  the  beasts  of  the  field,  incapable  of  regard- 
ing yourself  as  God's  man  by  right  of  creation  and  pre- 
servation, and  bound  to  serve  him  and  his  creatures. 
Thus  you  are  under  an  obligation  to  be  missionary. 

Again,  you  are  members  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
which  he  ordered  in  his  farewell  address,  to  carry  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature.  This  obligation  is  laid  by  him 
on  the  Church,  on  the  body  in  covenant  with  him  by  bap- 
tism.    This  covenant  involving  the  doctrine  that,  what- 


Paul's  Obligation  to  Missions  67 

soever  a  man's  special  calling  may  be,  he  shall  regard 
the  great  end  of  his  life  as  that  of  discipling  all  nations 
and  edifying  the  body  of  Christ.  He  may  be  a  porter 
in  a  Church  as  poor  as  that  of  Philippi,  he  must  try  to 
do  his  part  in  pushing  the  cause  of  Christ  to  the  utter- 
most bounds  of  the  earth.  If  Providence  favors  and 
he  can  do  more  to  forward  the  cause  of  Christ  by  becom- 
ing an  embassador  of  the  cross;  he  is  under  obligation, — 
an  imperative  obligation — to  emulate  Paul's  work  as  to 
the  very  form  of  his  life's  effort. 

Christians  are  left  to-day  to  their  own,  and  to  the 
sanctified,  judgment  of  the  Church  (the  Spirit  working 
through  them)'  as  to  the  special  forms  of  effort  which 
they  shall  give  their  lives  to,  in  carrying  out  the  great 
command  of  the  head  of  the  Church,  to  impart  the  Gos- 
pel to  all  the  world.  But  the  obligation  is  upon  them — 
upon  them,  upon  you,  gentlemen,  as  really  as  it  was  on 
the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  It  may  be  noted,  by  the 
way,  that  according  the  the  Protestant  theory  of  the 
ministry,  that  which  is  an  official  duty  of  the  officer  of 
the  Church  has  its  analogous  duty  resting  on  the  private 
member.  This  burden  is,  therefore  on  every  private 
member. 

Nay,  it  is'  upon  many  unbelievers  as  well.  Their  un- 
belief does  not  free  them  from  the  obligation  to  seek  the 
true  welfare  of  their  fellowmen.  Their  refusal  to  let 
Jesus  reign  over  them  does  not  absolve  them  from  the 
responsibility  of  letting  him  reign  over  them ;  nor  from 
the  responsibility  of  doing  their  work  of  giving  the  great 
riches'  of  the  Gospel,  which  he  offers  them,  to  their 
fellow-men. 

No  man  who  has  ever  had  the  Gospel  offered  him 
can  show  himself  exempt  from  the  obligation  to  share  it 


68  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

with  others  according  to  his  abilities  and  opportunities. 

It  should  be  remarked,  further,  that  the  obligation  to 
missionary  effort  lies  with  very  peculiar  force  on  our 
age:  The  opportunities  are  so  vast.  The  doors  of 
heathen  nations  are  so  wide  open.  The  peoples  in  many 
of  these  nations  are  showing  such  unusual  readiness'  to 
hear  the  Gospel.  The  relations  between  Protestant  Chris- 
tion  peoples  and  these  heathen  are  so  intimate.  The 
resources  and  instrumentalities  of  Christian  peoples  are 
so  vast;  think  of  their  railways,  steamships,  telegraph 
lines,  etc.  Think  how  they  can  protect  missionary  work- 
ers as  never  before.  Think  of  all  the  rich  increment 
given  to  Christian  civilization  in  the  nineteenth  century. 
This  limitless  range  of  opportunity,  these  measureless' 
resources,  place  an  obligation  on  you,  my  brethren,  and 
on  your  fellow  Christians  of  to-day  which  is  absolutely 
imperative. 

IV.  Let  us  ask  how  are  Christians  of  to-day  measur- 
ing up  to  this  obligation  to  give  the  Gospel  to  all  men. 

It  is  a  boast  of  the  Church  of  our  age  that  it  is  a 
missionary  Church.  It  is  contrasted  with  other  ages  of 
the  Church  to  their  disadvantage.  And  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted gratefully  that  relatively  ours'  is  a  missionary  age ; 
that  the  Church  has  responded  with  a  degree  of  earnest- 
ness to  its  exceptional  opportunities ;  but  is  it  awake  yet 
to  its  responsibilities?  Is  it  showing  the  Pauline  spirit 
in  regard  to  this'  great  problem  and  duty?  Is  it  striving 
to  preach  the  Gospel  first  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judea, 
and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth  ? 
Are  energy  enough  and  force  enough  being  used  ?  Is  the 
the  work  done  on  the  best  plans,  so  as  to  count  for  the 
most?  Is  the  Church  with  the  eye  of  the  true  strategist  or- 
ganizing new  bodies  in  centres  where  they  will  maintain 


Paul's  Obligation  to  Missions  69 

themselves  and  take  the  contiguous  territory  for  Christ?  Is 
there  the  fearless  proclamation  of  the  whole  Gospel?  Is 
the  preaching  so  done  as  to  bring  forth  much  fruit  in 
the  lives  of  the  converts?  Are  the  leaders  of  the  Church 
adequate  to  leading  the  Church  in  this  work?  Are  they 
trying  to  become  so?  Are  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
Church  lifting  themselves  in  intelligence  about  missions 
so  as  to  be  able  to  judge  of  the  competence  of  their  lead- 
ers? Is  there  adequate  self-sacrifice  in  behalf  of  the 
cause?  Are  those  fit  in  other  respects  to  go,  ready  to 
go?  Are  parents  ready  to  devote  their  children  to  the 
cause  to  the  extent  they  should  be? 

Not  all  of  these  questions  can  be  answered  in  the 
affirmative.  May  the  gracious  Lord  help  his  Church  of 
to-day  to  give  itself  anew  to  Christ,  that  it  may  inquire 
with  Saul  of  ^Tarsus,  "Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me 
to  do?"  May  He  make  us  ready  to  give  the  Gospel  to 
the  Greek  and  to  the  Barbarian,  to  the  wise  and  to  the 
unwise;  and  all  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace! 
Amen, 


LECTURE  IV. 

Christian    Missions    from     ioo    to    590. 
Nestorian  Missions. 

In  the  first  lecture  we  saw  that  the  Church  is 
the  God-ordained  missionary  society;  that  every 
Church  member,  in  virtue  of  his  membership  in  the 
Church,  is  pledged  to  missionary  endeavor;  and  under 
imperative  moral  obligations  to  be  missionary  in  spirit 
and  effort  whether  he  actually  go  and  preach  after  the 
manner  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  go  and  live  Christianity, 
talking  it  as  well  as  he  can,  as  the  obscure  Christians 
who  founded  the  Church  of  Rome  before  ever  an 
Apostle  had  set  foot  within  the  city,  or  whether  he 
support  the  missionary  who  does  go,  as  the  Philippians 
who  supplied  the  needs  of  the  missionary  Paul.  He 
is  missionary  as  a  member  of  the  body  of  Christ ;  and 
to  push  the  cause  of  missions  he  ought. 

In  the  second  lecture  we  tried  to  set  forth  the  re- 
vealed principle  properly  regulative  of  the  Church's 
missionary  effort,  and  at  the  same  time  to  bring  out 
the  principles  implied  in  that  chief  one,  all  of  which 
underlay  and  gave  shape  to  the  missionary  work  of 
the  Church  in  the  Apostolic  age. 

In  the  third  lecture  we  took  up  the  great  apostolic 
missionary  Paul,  examined  his  sense  of  the  obligations 
on  him  to  be  missionary,  the  manner  in  which  he  met 
his  obligations ;  and  the  similar  obligations  resting  on 
the  Church  and  its  members  in  every  subsequent  age. 

Could  we  allow  ourselves,  in  this  series,  the  privi- 


Patristic   Missions  71 

lege  of  indulging  the  imagination,  or  could  we  build 
on  legend,  we  might  have  taken  as  the  subject  of  the 
fourth  lecture,  the  missionary  operations  of  the  other 
disciples  in  the  apostolic  age.  But,  except  concerning 
the  work  of  Peter  and  John  and  Paul's  assistants  re- 
liable history  has  recorded  little.  Luke  makes  indeed 
a  pregnant,  if  brief  record,  "They  that  were  scattered 
abroad  went  everywhere  preaching  the  word."  Nor 
should  such  an  intimation  of  truth  be  ignored.  The 
service  rendered  by  believers,  too  inconspicuous  to 
send  down  their  names  in  history,  and  who  severally 
organized  few  churches ;  or,  in  many  cases,  only  one, 
were  necessary  in  order  to  the  grand  success  of  the 
mission  cause  in  the  apostolic  age.  "Could  we  learn 
more  fully  the  facts  of  the  apostolic  age  we  should  un- 
doubtedly find  that  it  led  all  the  succeeding  ages  in 
the  vigor  of  its  individual  effort.  It  was  not  a  time  of 
great  leaders  but  of  many  leaders  .  .  .  There 
was  a  constantly  increasing  number  of  individual 
Christian  believers,  who,  wherever  they  went,  whether 
on  their  regular  business  or  driven  by  persecution, 
preached  Christ,  and  Him  crucified,  told  the  story  of 
the  cross,  bore  witness  to  its  value  for  themselves,  and 
urged  the  acceptance  of  the  Saviour  on  those  with 
whom  they  came  in  contact.  Of  missionaries  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  term  there  were  few ;  of  those  who 
devoted  their  full  time  and  strength  to  the  work  of 
preaching  there  were  few;  but  of  those  who  made  their 
trade,  their  profession,  their  every  day  occupation,  of 
whatever  sort,  the  means  of  extending  their  faith,  there 
was  a  multitude."  * 


E.  M.  Bliss,  A  Concise  History  of  Missions,  p.  16. 


72  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

Our  historical  knowledge  of  the  work  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Church  being  so  compendious,  we  turn,  to  the 
course  of  missionary  history  subsequent  to  the  apos- 
tolic age.  In  our  treatment  of  this  history  we  shall 
attempt  not  to  reproduce  it,  but  to  set  forth  some  of 
its  important  features,  and  developments ;  to  compare 
its  developments  with  New  Testament  principles,  and 
to  test  them  by  their  fruits.  However  humble  the 
efifort  to  study  missionary  history  philosophically,  if 
to  any  degree  the  philosophizing  be  sane  and  sober, 
it  must  eventuate  in  practical  good,  guarding  us 
against  error  and  anchoring  us  to  the  truth.  Hence 
the  character  of  this  attempt. 

The  long  course  of  missionary  history  naturally 
falls  into  several  divisions.  In  the  study  of  these  divi- 
sions of  the  missionary  movement  severally,  we  shall 
keep  the  following  questions  prominently  before  us : 
What  was  the  theoretical  grasp  of  Christianity  prevail- 
ing in  the  period  and  determining  the  character  of  the 
missionary  effort?  What  was'  the  prevailing  mission- 
ary aim?  What  respect  did  the  workers  pay  to  the 
principles  set  forth  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  to  regu- 
late the  mission  effort  of  the  Church?  What  instru- 
mentalities did  they  use  in  their  work?  What  methods 
did  they  employ?  The  great  missionaries  of  the 
period?  The  common  missionaries  of  the  period? 
The  numbers  won?  Their  character?  The  territory 
overrun  ? 

So  much  for  the  plan  to  be  followed ;  now  let  us 
to  the  handling  of  Christian  Missions  from  lOO  to  590; 
and  as  the  year  311  was  epochal  in  the  missionary 
movement  as  in  other  branches  of  Church  history, 
dividing  the  movement  into  two  periods,  each  having 


Patristic   Missions  73 

markedly  distinguishing-  features,  let  us  take  up  first 
the  period  100  to  311,  the  sub-apostolic  and  antc-Niccne 
age. 

The  theoretical  grasp  of  Christianity  which  pre- 
vailed during  this  period  was  substantially  like  that  of 
the  apostolic  age.  Various  heretical  teachers,  anti- 
Trinitarian,  Gnostic,  Montanistic,  arose ;  but  the  anti- 
Trinitarians  and  Gnostics  were  excluded  from  the 
Church,  and  won  after  all,  only  small  bodies  of  fol- 
lowers. The  Montanists,  whose  false  teachings  struck 
less  at  that  which  is  essential  in  Christianity  than 
the  others,  were  quite  as  much  schismatics  as  heretics. 
Certain  false  practices,  and  subsequently  the  false 
theories  back  of  them,  of  the  Gnostics  and  Mani- 
chaeans,  were  indeed  to  creep  surely,  if  slowly,  into 
tlie  Church.  But  their  influence  is  to  be  seen  rather 
in  the  periods  following  311  than  in  the  one  now  be- 
fore us.  In  the  thought  of  some  Christians  evangeli- 
cal repentance  was  being  substituted  by  penance ; 
godly  sorro^v  with  endeavor  after  new  obedience,  by 
an  effort  to  render  satisfaction  for  sin,  by  confession, 
sighs  and  tears  and  saskcloth,  which  is  to  say,  that  in 
the  thought  of  some  work,  righteousness  was  begin- 
ning to  creep  in.  Belief  in  the  magical  power  of  water 
baptism  was  also  creeping  in, — the  belief  that  in  bap- 
tism, if  the  person  baptized  be  not  in  mortal  sin  un- 
repented  of,  and  oppose  no  bar  of  his  own  will,  he  is 
washed  free  of  guilt  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  virtue  of  a 
connection  between  the  water  and  the  Spirit.  Vagueness 
of  conception  and  looseness  of  doctrinal  grasp  were 
the  general  characteristics  of  Christians.  Neverthe- 
less, in  the  main,  a  sound,  if  unscientific  view  prevailed 
of  man's  hopeless  condition  if  left  to  himself,  and  of 


74  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

salvation  by  the  gracious  work  of  tlie  triune  God. 
Men  magnified  the  power  of  a  living  faith  in  the  risen 
Lord.  They  longed  to  see  this  faith  universal.  They 
believed,  however,  that  Paul  may  plant  and  ApoUos 
may  water  but  that  God  alone  must  give  the  increase. 

Naturally  the  aim  of  a  Church,  with  such. a  faith, 
in  its  missionary  work  was  much  like  that  of  the 
Apostolic  Church.  It  too  sought  to  win  true  believers 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  sought  in  addition,  men 
so  possessed  of  the  Christian  faith  and  the  Christian 
spirit  that  they  would  declare  their  testimony  in  the 
face  of  all  persecution  even  unto  death.  This  period 
is  the  classic  age  of  the  Church  under  oppression. 
The  ancient  heathen  priesthoods,  the  imperial  power 
and  the  animosity  against  God  natural  to  man's  heart, 
were  pitted  unitedly  against  Christianity.  Throughout 
most  of  the  periods,  persecution  was  waging  in  some 
quarter  or  other  of  the  empire  against  Christians. 
Sometimes  the  persecutions  were  widespread.  This 
bitter  opposition  and  the  probability  that  the  new 
convert  would  soon  have  to  face  the  fires  of  persecution 
made  the  Church  prevalently  desire  only  those  who 
were  believed  to  be  thoroughly  devoted  to  Christ. 
The  persecutions  helped  to  prevent  the  Church  from 
desiring  merely  nominal  converts ;  and  thus  bolstered 
up  the  motives  springing  from  an  intelligent  appre- 
hension of  the  true  genius  of  Christianity.  Thus  it 
aimed  to  secure  true  witnesses  for  Christ  and  his 
cause. 

It  cannot  be  safely  asserted  that  there  was  much 
consciously  strategic  planning  of  the  work  in  any  large 
way,  but  there  was  some  of  it  as  will  appear  in  the 
sequel.     As  for  the  immediate  mission   work  of  the 


Patristic   Missions  75 

rank  and  file,  it  was  well  directed,  terminating  upon 
the  people  with  whom  the  Christians  severally  came 
into  the  closest  contact.  Within  the  limits  fixed  by 
their  poverty,  and  their  mental  cultivation  and  intel- 
lectual grasp,  they,  in  practice,  applied  well  the  prin- 
ciples laid  down  in  the  New  Testament  for  the  Church's 
guidance  in  its  efforts  to  spread  the  faith. 

The  word  of  God,  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  in 
such  books  of  the  New  Testament,  as  circulated  in 
any  particular  quarter  of  the  Church,  and  this  word 
as  preserved  in  tradition,  was  the  one  instrument  in 
general  use.  That  word,  preached,  privately  taught 
and  lived  by  the  disciples,  was  used  by  the  propagators 
of  the  faith  with  absolute  confidence.  There  was  some 
use  made,  by  learned  teachers,  here  and  there  of 
heathen  utterances,  but  in  such  a  bird's-eye  view  as 
we  are  taking,  this  is  hardly  to  be  noticed.  The  word 
of  God  was  universally  regarded  and  applied  by  the 
Christians  of  the  time  as  the  effective  instrument. 

As  to  the  methods  employed  in  this  period :  The 
evangelistic  was  the  chief  method.  Ministers  preached 
the  glad  tidings.  The  Christian  men  and  women 
severally  talked  and  lived  the  glad  tidings. 

The  literary  method  also  was  employed  extensively 
as  proven  beyond  a  peradventure,  by  the  translations 
of  Scriptures  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  that 
early  age.  Amongst  these  are  the  Peshito  and  Cure- 
tonian  Syriac  versions  for  Syria  and  Mesopotamia ; 
the  Memphitic,  Thebaic,  and  Bashmuric  for  Egypt  and 
the  Upper  Nile  Valley ;  the  North  African  and  Italian- 
Latin  versions  for  Carthage  and  Rome.  Copies  of  the 
Scriptures  were  multiplied  in  the  Greek  which  pre- 
vailed so  widely.     The  literary  method  in  missionary 


yd  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

endeavor  was  applied  in  the  production  of  letters,  ex- 
positions of  the  faith,  pleas  for  the  faith,  defenses  of 
the  faith,  the  "Apologies,"  etc.  It  is  perhaps  not  far- 
fetched to  say  that  in  Alexandria  we  see  an  instance 
of  the  educational  method  in  missions,  in  the  catecheti- 
cal school,  which,  at  the  outset,  was  a  school  in  which 
inquirers  and  neophytes  were  taught  the  simplest  ele- 
ments of  the  Gospel,  but  which  was  soon  developed 
into  a  college  of  divinity  and  evangelistic  work,  and 
in  which  Christians  were  trained  to  meet  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  heathen  systems.  This  school  be- 
came an  important  source  of  mission  workers.  Other 
methods  may  have  been  employed  but  the  evidence  that 
they  were  is  not  conspicuous. 

There  were  some  missionary  workers  prominent 
enough  to  leave  their  names  dimly  written  on  the 
pages  of  history.  No  one  of  them  stands  out  as  Paul's 
in  the  preceding  age,  or  as  the  name  of  Patrick,  or 
Columba,  or  Augustine  in  the  next  period.  Of  these, 
one  was  Pantaenus.  He  was  the  first  teacher  of  the 
catechetical  school  of  Alexandria  whose  name  has 
come  down  to  us.  He  is  sometimes  represented  as  the 
founder  of  that  school.  Previous  to  his  conversion  he 
had  been  a  Stoic  philosopher.  He  was  highly  esteemed 
for  his  services  to  Christianity  by  his  contemporaries. 
Eusebius  asserts  that  "Pantaenus  is  said  to  have  showed 
such  a  willing  mind  towards  the  publishing  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  that  he  became  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel 
unto  the  Eastern  Gentiles,  and  was  sent  as  far  as  India. 
For  there  were",  continues  Eusebius,  and  for  what  fol- 
lows he  vouches,  "there  were  then  many  evangelists 
prepared  for  this  purpose,  to  promote  and  plant  the 
heavenly  word  with  godly  zeal,  after  the  guise  of  the 


Patristic   Missions  "77 

apostles.  Of  these  Pantaenus  being  one,  is'  said  to  have 
come  into  India,  where  he  found  the  Gospel  of  Mat- 
thew written  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  kept  of  such  as 
knew  Christ,  which  was  preached  there  before  his  com- 
ing by  Bartholomew,  one  of  the  apostles,  and  as  they 
report  revered  there  unto  this  day."* 

Whether  by  India  was  meant  the  peninsula  now 
known  by  that  name,  or  Ethiopia,  or  the  Upper  Nile 
country,  or  Arabia  Felix,  is  uncertain;  but  it  is  not  a 
matter  of  importance  in  this  connection.  The  uncer- 
tainty does  not  touch  the  fact  that  Pantaenus  and 
'"many  evangelists"  were  going  out  to  missionary  work. 

According  to  the  French  historian,  Gregory  of 
Tours,  seven  missionaries  came  into  as  many  quarters 
of  France  about  250,  and  founded  churches.  One  of 
these  was  Dionysius,  the  first  bishop  of  the  community 
where  now  is  Paris.  According  to  Gregory's  account. 
Dionysius  suffered  death  at  his  mission  post  dur- 
ing the  Aurelian  persecution.  Another  of  the  seven 
was  Saturnin,  one  of  the  most  famous  missionaries  and 
martyrs  of  the  third  century.  He  is  represented  to 
have  been  a  native  of  Italy ;  to  have  been  sent  as  a 
missionary  to  Gaul  by  the  bishop  Fabian ;  to  have  set- 
tled at  Toulouse ;  to  have  labored  with  much  success, 
and  to  have  been  killed  by  an  infuriated  mob  between 
250  and  260. 

Other  names  might  be  laboriously  transcribed,  but 
little  besides,  of  these  ancient  missionaries ;  unless  we 
should  take  as  essentially  missionary  such  a  man  as 
Irenaeus  of  Lyons.  The  accounts  of  their  labors'  have 
perished ;  but  Eusebius's  reference  to  the  "  'many  evan- 
gelists' of   Pantaenus's   day   prepared   to   promote,   and 

*Eusebius,  Ecclesiastical  History,  Book  V.,  Chapter  IX. 


78  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

to  plant  the  heavenly  word  with  godly  zeal  after  the 
guise  of  the  apostles",  shows  that  not  a  few  gave  them- 
selves up  wholly  to  propagating  Christianity.  While 
remote  cities  and  countries  received  some  of  these 
workers,  the  villages  and  towns  within  the  immediate 
influence  of  the  more  important  cities  which  previously 
had  been  made  centres  of  Christianity,  received  a  still 
greater  number  of  them.  Origin  informs  us  that  city 
churches  sent  their  missionaries  to  the  neighboring  vil- 
lages in  his  day.* 

But  the  mass  of  the  missionary  work  of  the  period 
was  done  by  humble  Christians  who  had  no  official  title 
in  the  Church,  and  whose  names  have  been  lost  utterly 
to  the  memory  of  man,  though  treasured  in  the  Lamb's 
Book  of  Life.  The  Church  grew  so  because  the  rank 
and  file  were  possessed  with  the  missionary  spirit. 
Almost  every  Christian  believer  was  a  missionary  and 
was  aflame  with  love  for  Christ  and  with  zeal  for  His 
cause.  Justin  Martyr  meets'  a  venerable  old  man  walk- 
ing on  the  sea-shore.  They  fall  to  talking.  Justin  is 
converted  to  Christ  and  becomes  a  valued  defender  and 
propagator  of  Christianity.  "Every  Christian  laborer," 
says  Tertullian,  "both  finds  out  God  and  manifests  him, 
though  Plato  affirms  that  it  is  not  easy  to  discover  the 
Creator,  and  difficult  when  he  is  found,  to  make  him 
known  to  all." 

Celsus  jeered  at  Christianity,  because  he  saw  in 
mechanics,  rustic  and  ignorant  persons,  its  earnest 
propagators.  The  people  were  full  of  it — as  full  as 
shipwrecked  sailors  are  of  the  story  of  their  rescue. 
They  loved  to  talk  of  it;  and  did  talk  of  it.    The  mer- 

*  Compare  Philip  Schaff,  History  of  the  Christian  Church, 
Vol.  II.,  p.  21. 


Patristic   Missions  79 

chant  traders  talked  of  it  on  their  travels ;  the  soldiers 
on  their  marches  and  beside  their  camp  fires.  Neigh- 
bor talked  of  it  to  neighbor,  father  to  son  and  to 
daughter  and  to  wife  and  to  servant ;  the  parents  talked 
of  it  to  their  children,  and  the  children  talked  of  it 
to  their  parents.  Slaves  talked  of  it  to  their  fellow- 
slaves  and  to  their  masters  and  mistresses.  No  mat- 
ter how  humble  a  man  might  be,  the  possession  of 
Christianity  gave  him  a  subject  of  such  worth  that 
on  it  he  could  speak  to  the  greatest.  It  was  the  very 
greatest  thing  that  had  ever  come  into  the  life  of  man. 
It  sweetened  all  life,  however  sordid  otherwise ;  it  had 
robbed  death  of  its  sting.  The  very  martyrs  at  the 
stake  sang  it,  prayed  it,  talked  it,  lived  it,  gloried  in 
it,  rejoiced  in  dying  for  it.  The  Christian  rank  and 
file,  busied  in  their  various  occupations,  called  in  ques- 
tion by  the  civil  authorities  for  practicing  a  new  re- 
ligion, in  dungeons,  at  the  stake — were  the  most  efifec- 
tive  agents  in  the  spread  of  Christianity  in  the  ante- 
Nicene  period.  Oh,  for  a  revival  of  this  irrepressibly 
aggressive  type  of  Christianity  among  our  rank  and  file 
of   Christians. 

The  number  of  Christians  increased  with  very  great 
rapidity  throughout  the  period.  According  to  conser- 
vative estimates,  at  the  close  of  the  apostolic  age,  the 
number  of  adherents  to  Christianity  had  not  reached 
five  hundred  thousand.  At  the  accession  of  Constan- 
tine  the  Christians  numbered  ten  to  twelve  millions. 
To  put  the  matter  in  another  way:  At  the  death  of  the 
apostle  John,  only  one  man  in  two  hundred  and  forty 
within  the  limits  of  the  Roman  Empire  was  a  profess- 
ing Christian,  whereas  on  the  adoption  of  Christianity 
by  Constantine  as  the  religion  of  State,  about  every 


8o  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

tenth  or  twelfth  man  in  the  Empire  was  a  nominal 
Christian. 

The  missionary  triumphs  of  Christianity  were  a  mat- 
ter which  thrilled  the  early  apologists.  About  the  mid- 
dle of  the  second  century  Justin  Martyr  asserts  that 
there  is  "no  race  of  men,  whether  of  Barbarians  or  of 
Greeks,  or  bearing  any  other  name,  either  because  they 
lived  in  wagons  without  fixed  habitation,  or  in  tents 
leading  a  pastoral  life,  among  whom  prayers  and 
thanksgivings  were  not  offered  up  to  the  Father  and 
Creator  of  all  things  through  the  name  of  the  crucified 
Jesus."  About  200,  Tertullian  says  in  his  address  to 
the  heathen :  "We  are  a  people  of  yesterday,  and  yet 
we  have  filled  every  place  belonging  to  you — cities, 
islands,  castles,  towns,  assemblies,  your  very  camp. 
5-our  tribes,  companies,  palace,  senate,  forum.  We 
leave  you  your  temples  only.  We  can  count  your 
armies,  our  numbers  in  a  single  province  will  be 
greater." 

The  rapid  and  healthful  growth  of  the  Church  in 
this  period  is  an  undisputed  fact.  In  the  first  three 
hundred  years  of  its  growth  it  won  a  good  tenth  of  the 
population  of  the  Empire,  and  it  so  impressed  some  of 
the  leading  statesmen  of  the  times  that  they  naturally 
looked  to  its  adoption  as  the  state  religion. 

The  territory  overrun  by  the  Christians  had  grown, 
less  fast  than  the  number  of  Christians  but  still  ver}^ 
fast.  Christian  communities  were  found,  by  the  close 
of  this  period,  on  the  East,  in  Mesopotamia,  Persia, 
Media,  Parthia,  and  Bactria,  and  even  in  remote  India ;  to 
the  southward,  having  gained  a  strong  foothold  in  Egypt, 
the  Church  extended  up  the  Nile  to  Nubia  and  Abys- 
sinia.    It  flourished  greatly  in  North  Africa.     It  was 


Patristic   Missions  8i 

planted  and  had  made  a  large  growth  in  Gaul,  Spahi 
and  Britain  before  the  end  of  the  period.  Christians 
had  crossed  the  Rhine  and  made  converts  among  the 
German  Barbarians  before  the  era  of  Constantine.  The 
mission  spirit  of  the  Church  was  splendid.  The  Church 
of  the  time  was  not  rich  in  this  world's  goods.  It  was 
poor  and  oppressed.  It  included  no  large  percentage 
of  the  learned  and  the  great.  In  some  respects  it  was 
still  the  Church's  day  of  small  things ;  but  the  believers 
generally  took  it  as  their  great  business  to  witness  for 
Jesus.  The  blessing  of  God  rested  on  this  witnessing. 
The  Gospel  was  carried  throughout  the  civilized  world 
of  the  day — the  limits  of  the  Roman  empire ;  and  be- 
yond its  bounds. 

Let  us  now  review  rapidly  the  missionary  life  of 
the  next  period,  the  period  311  to  590,  the  Nicene  and 
post-Nicene  age  of  the  Church. 

I.  The  theoretical  view  of  Christianity  which  pre- 
vailed early  in  the  period  was  different  in  important 
respects  from  that  which  prevailed  in  the  preceding 
and  in  the  apostolic  age.  Certain  evil  germs  planted 
in  the  Church  in  the  period  just  left,  some  of  them 
sown  by  heretics  who  had  themselves  suffered  excom- 
munication, had  flourished  and  brought  forth  much 
fruit  of  their  kind.  In  the  eyes  of  the  Church  at  large, 
human  works  were  assuming  a  large  place  as  over 
against  divine  grace ;  the  highest  human  holiness  was 
regarded  as  dependent  largely  on  human  works,  and 
human  works  of  an  ascetic  character ;  the  symbolic  nature 
of  baptism  was  obscured  and,  in  the  eyes  of  most,  the 
ordinance  was  perverted  into  a  magical  rite.  It  came 
to  be  believed  universally  that,  if  he  who  administered 
baptism  did  it  with  proper  intention,  and  if  he  who  re- 


82  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

eeived  it,  did  not  determine  that  he  would  not  receive 
its  virtue  and  if  he  was  not  in  mortal  sin,  such  as 
adultery  or  murder,  unrepented  of,  his  soul  would  be 
washed  white  and  clean  from  guilt,  and  his  character 
would  be  in  the  same  instant  miraculously  strengthened 
for  the  good.  That  is  to  say,  the  theory  of  baptismal 
regeneration  prevailed  almost  universally.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  Christian  ministry  was  rapidly  changing, 
giving  in  the  place  of  the  New  Testament  minister 
a  priest,  with  prerogatives  over  against  the  private 
members  of  the  Churches  like  those  enjoyed  by  heathen 
and  by  Jewish  priests.  The  idea  of  the  universal 
spiritual  priesthood  of  all  believers  passed  away  to  be 
resurrected  only  at  the  Reformation.  Churchly  functions 
once  exercised  by  the  people  at  large  or  by  chosen 
officers,  were  regarded  as  of  right  to  be  exercised  by 
the  special  priesthood  only.  The  theory  of  ex  operato 
efficiency  of  the  sacraments  generally,  in  the  hands  of 
the  special  priesthood,  came  into  vogue. 

The  growth  of  the  evil  seeds  planted  in  a  better 
age  was  favored  by  the  rapid  movement  of  current 
events  which  swept  Christianity  from  the  condition  of 
a  persecuted  religion  into  the  saddle  as  the  religion 
of  the  state.  This  great  change  in  the  external  con- 
dition of  the  Church,  intoxicated  and  secularized  it. 
Unconsciously  perhaps,  but  nevertheless  truly,  it  fur- 
ther changed  its  very  theoretical  grasp  of  itself  to  suit 
the  demands  of  its  new  formal  ally  the  state. 

II.  As  to  the  aim  which  inspired  the  missionary  of 
this  period :  While  not  wholly  unlike  that  of  the  apos- 
tolic age,  it  was  largely  unlike  it.  The  aim  of  the  mis- 
sionaries in  the  period  was  more  and  more  to  gather 
in  the  nominal  Christians  without  much  concern  as  to 


Patristic   Missions  83 

whether  they  were  true  believers  or  not.  This  change 
in  the  aim  came  in  part  at  least  from  the  change  in 
the  theoretical  grasp  of  the  Christian  system.  Believ- 
ing that  men,  not  in  mortal  sin  unrepented  of,  and  not 
opposing  a  volition  against  receiving  good  from  the 
rite,  would  be  cleansed  of  all  guilt  by  baptism,  and  re- 
newed in  heart ;  believing  that  should  these  baptized 
fall  into  sin  again,  there  were  other  ordinances  in  the 
hands  of  the  special  priests  with  which  they  could  be 
efficiently  restored;  and  believing  that  baptism  was 
necessary  to  salvation,  they  became  exceedingly  de- 
sirous not  to  win  spiritual  believers,  but  to  get  men 
under  the  sacramental  manipulations  of  the  priests, 
to  make  them  the  subjects  of  baptism,  penance,  etc., 
etc.  Thinking  that  the  application  of  the  sacraments 
was  essential  to  the  salvation  of  any  individual,  they 
laid  themselves  out  to  secure  that  application.  Pos- 
sessed of  a  legalistic,  external,  priestly  and  magical 
conception  of  Christianity,  the  missionaries  were  satis- 
fied with  conformity  to  Christian  customs  and  recep- 
tion of  the  Christian  sacraments.  They  sought  in  their 
converts  not  for  an  effective  addition  to  the  army  of 
witness-bearers.  They  wished  to  save  units.  The 
clergy  would  bear  the  witness.  They  wished  to  get 
the  people  within  the  sphere  within  which  the  sacra- 
ments worked,  that  they  might  be  hoisted  heaven- 
ward. 

III.  As  little  attention  was  paid  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment missionary  aim  by  the  mission  workers  of  this 
age,  so  little  attention  was  paid  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment principles  for  regulating  missionary  endeavor. 
There  was  little  strategic  planning  of  such  a  sort  as  to 
impress  itself  on  the  mind  of  man,  save  in  the  efforts 


84  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

constantly  made  to  get  the  hands  of  the  priests  first 
on  the  heads  of  the  leaders  of  such  tribes  as  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  cross  came  in  contact  with.  The 
Church  had  put  her  meddling  hand  on  so  many  features 
of  apostolic  teaching  in  the  efifort  to  improve  them,  that 
the  principles  of  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  current 
in  the  apostolic  age  had  been  largely  lost  to  view.  An 
occasional  Christian,  indeed,  held  pretty  closely  to  the 
principles  of  the  preceding  ages ;  and  bits  of  work  here 
and  there  were  conducted  in  the  old  way.  But  such 
worker  was  the  exception. 

IV.  The  word  was  no  longer  the  sole  instrument  in 
general  use  by  the  missionaries.  Bribery  in  veiled  or 
open  form,  was  in  frequent,  almost  common  use.  Con- 
stantine  the  Great  seems  to  have  practiced  it  openly. 
His  example  would  be  largely  followed  in  his  own  day. 
Evidence  is  not  wanting  that  the  great  Church  dig- 
nitaries used  similar  means  to  forward  ecclesiastical 
interests  including  conversions.  The  Emperors  gen- 
erally, showed  more  favor  to  Christians  than  to  pagans. 
There  were  popular  outbursts  against  not  only  the 
grosser  and  more  impious  heathen  cults,  but  against 
the  heathen  cults  generally.  The  physical  sword  as 
well  as  the  Sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of 
God,  was  used.  Ad  hominem  attacks  on  the  heathen  re- 
ligions and  every  other  weapon  deemed  likely  to  prove 
effective  were,  on  occasions,  put  into  use ;  it  having 
come  to  be  the  belief  of  the  age — a  belief  in  which  even 
the  great  Augustine  concurred — that  it  was  the  duty  of 
the  Christians  to  compel  men  to  come  into  the  Church 
even  at  the  cost  of  using  physical  force. 

V.  As  to  the  methods  employed  by  the  propagators 
of  the  Gospel  during  the  period  311  to  590: 


Patristic   Missions  85 

I  St.  The  evengelistic  method  was  used.  That  is, 
some  lived  and  preached  an  evangel.  But  the  Gospel 
was  presented  in  an  increasingly  paganized  form.  The 
missionaries  rarely  carried  the  pure  Gospel.  By  their 
interpretation  and  traditions  they  gave  the  Gospel  sac- 
ramental external,  legalistic  and  ascetic  overlardings, 
They  mixed  with  it  not  a  little  of  revamped  heathenism. 

2nd.  They  used  the  medical  arm  often,  having 
larger  knowledge  of  the  crude  healing  art  of  the  time 
than  the  peoples  amongst  whom  they  labored.  Not 
infrequently  they  claimed  to  use  miraculous  power  to 
heal;  and  seem  often  to  have  befooled  a  credulous  peo- 
pie,  counting  it  proper  to  deceive  if  thereby  they  could 
add  to  the  praise  and  reputation  of  the  Church. 

3rd.  The  literary  method  was  in  use.  Ulfilas  for 
example,  gave  to  the  Goths  the  Scriptures  in  their  own 
tongue.  Miesrob  gave  the  Armenians  a  Bible  in  their  own 
tongue.  Jerome  gave  the  Latin  speaking  peoples  a 
more  perfect  translation  than  they  had  hitherto  en- 
joyed, in  the  Vulgate.  Commentaries,  expositions, 
apologies,  polemical  treatises,  and  religious  works  of 
various  worthy  kinds  were  produced ;  legends  of  saints, 
angels,  and  wonder-working  relics,  intended  to  ad- 
vance the  worship  of  those  creatures,  were  multiplied, 
and  became  the  most  popular  literature  of  the  age. 

4th.  The  educational  method  was  little  practiced. 
In  the  East,  the  catechetical  and  theological  school 
previously  established  at  Alexandria  was  kept  up  dur- 
ing the  earlier  portion  of  this  period.  A  similar 
school  flourished  during  a  portion  of  the  period  at 
Antioch ;  later  another  at  Edessa ;  and  another  at  Nisi- 
bis.  In  these  schools  preparation  for  the  ministry  be- 
came  the   uppermost  aim.     In  the  West  there  were 


86  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

smaller  dioscean  seminaries  whose  purpose  was  the 
same.  There  was  no  adequate  stress  placed  on  teach- 
ing as  a  method  of  Gospel  propagation.  The  current 
civilization  was  becoming  effete  and  at  the  same  time 
was  being  swept  away  by  the  flood  of  incoming  Bar- 
barians. The  time  did  not  favor  education;  the  very 
bishop,  presbyters,  missionaries  had  little  of  it  as  a 
rule ;  the  changed  conception  of  the  ministry,  substi- 
tuting for  the  heralds  of  the  Gospel  the  priest  with 
magical  power  made  education  of  the  clergy  seem  re- 
latively unnecessary;  and  much  more,  education  of 
the  people  unnecessary  from  a  merely  religious  point 
of  view. 

5th.  In  applying  the  instruments  of  bribery  and 
the  physical  sword  almost  any  method  was  practiced 
that  appeared  to  promise  success.  The  churchmen 
aimed  to  win  the  strong  man — the  man  in  civil  and 
military  position — to  their  view.  They  frequently  left 
it  to  his  arbitrary  will  to  choose  the  way  in  which  he 
would  herd  those  under  him  to  the  baptismal  fount 
and  to  the  priestly  hand. 

VI.  Some  of  the  more  distinguished  mission- 
workers  of  the  time  were  Ulfilas  amongst  the  Goths; 
Gregory  and  Miesrob  amongst  the  Armenians,  whose 
labors  resulted  in  quite  a  general  spread  of  Christianity 
in  Armenia;  Frumentius  and  Edesius  in  Abyssinia; 
humble,  simple  hearted,  self-sacrificing  and  efficient 
Patrick  in  Ireland,  and  Columba  in  Scotland.  Stories 
have  come  down  showing  that  here  and  there  the  old 
ideals  had  not  utterly  perished ;  and  that  an  occasional 
earnest  child  of  God  by  a  godly  walk  and  conversation 
turned  the  minds  of  neighbors  to  Christ. 

The  chief  mission  work  of  this  period  was  home 


Patristic   IMissions  87^ 

mission  work.  Every  considerable  section  of  the  em- 
pire had  been  penetrated  by  Christianity  as  early  as 
311 ;  but  not  over  one-tenth  perhaps  of  the  population 
had  become  adherents  thereto,  at  that  date.  In  the 
period  beginning  with  the  union  of  Church  and  state, 
the  other  nine-tenth  remained  to  be  handled.  The 
ministers  of  religion  had,  every  one,  abounding  oppor- 
tunities for  mission  work.  Nor  is  there  reason  for 
doubting  that  they  had  zeal  of  a  sort;  nor  that  they 
inducted  vast  numbers  into  the  external  religion  into 
which  they  had  so  largely  converted  Christianity. 

VII.  It  is  impossible  even  to  conjecture  the  num- 
ber of  adherents  added.  By  590  there  had  come  a  vast 
decrease  in  the  population  within  the  bounds  of  the 
once  West  Roman  empire.  Cities,  towns  and  villages 
had  been  destroyed.  The  old  population  had  been  de- 
cimated over  and  over  by  successive  waves  of  Barbar- 
ians, had  suffered  from  the  want  of  all  things  to  the 
point   of  extinction   in   many   quarters. 

The  incomers  had  supplied  their  places  only  very 
partially  at  first,  and  had  not  multiplied  rapidly  owing 
to  their  ever-recurring  wars  on  each  other.  In  all 
Christendom  there  may  have  been  thirty  or  thirty-five 
millions  of  adherents  to  the  prevailing  paganized  Chris- 
tianity. Some  have  estimated  the  number  of  Chris- 
tians in  814  at  thirty-five  millions.  This  date  is  after 
the  Roman  missionizing  of  England  under  Augustine 
and  his  followers,  after  the  work  of  Boniface  and  his 
co-laborers  amongst  the  Germans,  and  after  Charle- 
magne's work  as  a  converter  by  force.  But  in  814,  the 
Mohammedans  had  reduced  the  number  of  Christians 
in  the  East  and  in  North  Africa  by  as  much  as  it  had 
gained  in  the  West  between  the  years  590  and  814- 


88  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

All  things  considered  it  is  not  probable  that  there  were 
more  Christians  at  the  end  of  Charlemagne's  reign 
than  at  the  end  of  the  papal  reign  of  Gregory  I. 

The  adherents  in  this  age  were  largely  nominal  and 
external  Christians.  The  Church  had  largely  divorced 
morals  from  religion.  Paganization  had  meant  secu- 
larization for  the  great  mass. 

VIII.  The  territory  within  which  Christianity  pre- 
vailed had  been  considerably  augmented  by  590.  Be- 
yond the  ancient  bounds  of  the  Graeco-Roman  empire, 
Christianity  had  overrun  Abyssinia,  made  inroads  into 
Arabia  and  Persia,  overrun  Armenia,  made  conquests 
to  the  north  of  the  Danube  and  overrun  Ireland,  and 
portions  of  Scotland. 

The  Nestorians  showed  considerable  missionary 
activity  not  only  in  this  but  in  the  next  period.  As 
they  separated  from  the  Graeco-Latin  Church  prior  to 
5go,  it  is  convenient  to  indicate  at  this  point,  once  for 
all,  their  missionary  career.  Differing  from  the  Graeco- 
Latin  Church  in  denying  that  Mary  was  the  mother  of 
God,  in  repudiating  the  use  of  images  and  the  doc- 
trines of  purgatory  and  transubstantiation,  and  in 
holding  a  more  simple  worship,  they  were  driven  out 
of  the  bounds  of  the  empire ;  found  an  asylum  in  Per- 
sia, and  were  favored  by  Persian  kings. 

They  spread  from  Persia  with  great  missionary 
zeal  into  Arabia,  India.  China  and  Tartary,  establish- 
ing schools  and  hospitals  and  ennobling  the  civiliza- 
tions of  the  peoples  amongst  whom  they  labored. 

A  certain  Nestorian  monk,  Sergius,  is  supposed  to 
have  given  Mohammed  his  imperfect  knowledge  of 
Christianity.  The  sect  received  many  privileges  at 
Mohammed's    hands,    and    exerted    an    influence    on 


Patristic  Missions  89 

Arabian  culture,  and  upon  the  development  of  science 
and  philosophy  amongst  the  Arabs.  According  to  tradi- 
tion the  Nestorians  made  converts  among  the  Tartars 
in  the  eleventh  century.  They  had  previously  spread 
into  China. 

The  Nestorian  Church  in  the  thirteenth  century 
was  quite  extensive.  But  persecution  came  upon  them 
and  they  were  crushed.  They  have  maintained  them- 
selves, however,  in  Armenia  and  in  the  wild  mountains 
and  valleys  of  Kurdistan  and  in  India. 


LECTURE  V. 
Mediaeval  Catholic  Missions,  590  to  15 17. 

In  our  previous  study  of  the  history  of  Christian 
missions,  we  have  seen  that,  after  the  year  311,  the 
Church  as  a  whole  more  and  more  ceased  to  take  any 
interest  in  the  work;  that  the  popular  effort  to  spread 
Christianity,  which  had  characterized  the  apostoHc  and 
ante-Nicene  ages,  stopped  with  the  adoption  of  Christian- 
ity as  the  rehgion  of  the  empire ;  that  such  mission  work 
as  was  done  was  undertaken  by  those  of  the  clergy  that 
individually  were  moved  thereto.  We  have  seen  that 
the  aim  of  the  mission  workers,  for  the  most  part,  was 
now  to  bring  persons  under  priestly  manipulations ;  that 
they  were  no  longer  careful  to  make  the  word  of  God 
their  sole  instrument  in  the  work,  but  ready  to  use  any- 
thing that  came  to  hand,  and  to  apply  any  method  likely 
to  be  followed  by  success'  in  gathering  nominal  adherents 
to  their  religion.  We  have  seen  also  that  these  differ- 
ences as  to  workers,  and  aim,  and  instruments  used,  and 
methods  employed,  were  due  to  a  change  in  the  theoreti- 
cal grasp  of  Christianity;  that  the  theory  of  Christianity 
obtaining  in  the  apostolic  and  ante-Nicene  ages  had  been 
replaced  by  the  sacramental,  legalistic,  externalizing 
theory. 

We  propose  in  this  lecture  to  review  mediaeval  mis- 
sions, raising,  as  heretofore  promised  in  regard  to  them, 
the  questions :  What  theory  of  Christianity  conditioned 
them?    What  was  the  aim  of  the  work?    What  was  the 


AIkdiaeval  Catholic  Missions  91 

respect  paid  to  the  principles  embodied  in  the  Acts  for 
guidance  of  the  Church  in  its  missionary  effort?  What 
the  instruments  used?  The  methods  employed?  Who 
the  workers?  What  the  number  won?  What  the  terri- 
tory over-run? 

I.  The  theoretical  grasp  of  Christianity  handed  over 
to  the  Mediaeval  Church  by  the  Church  of  the  post- 
Nicene  age  has  been  sufficiently  described  in  Lecture  IV. 
It  must  be  added  here  that  the  Mediaeval  Church,  as  a 
whole,  not  only  did  not  improve  on  the  grasp  of  Chris- 
tianity which  it  inherited,  but  made  it  more  external, 
more  legalistic,  more  sacramental,  introduced  more  of 
paganism  into  it.  There  were,  indeed,  individuals,  here 
and  there,  who  saw  more  clearly  some  part  of  the  system 
of  genuine  Christian  truth ;  as  Retramnus,  in  the  ninth 
century,  and  Berenger,  in  the  eleventh  century,  on  the 
subject  of  the  Lord's  Supper ;  as  Anselm,  in  the  eleventh 
century,  on  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement ;  as  Wycliffe, 
in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  John  Huss  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  on  many  subjects ;  but  these  views  were  either 
condemned  and  persecuted,  or  ignored  by  the  Church  at 
large.  While  great  progress  in  power  to  state  scien- 
tifically the  actual  faith  of  the  Church  and  real  advance 
in  the  apprehension  of  certain  teachings  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture was  made  by  the  schoolmen  of  the  period,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  whole  faith  of  the  Church  as  stated 
by  them,  at  its  best,  was  more  external,  more  legalistic, 
more  sacramental,  and  more  pagan  than  the  faith  of  the 
fathers  which  the  Mediaeval  Church  inherited  in  590: 
Human  works  were  given  a  larger  place  in  the  outwork- 
ing of  redemption ;  more  stress  was  put  on  the  sacra- 
ments', their  value  and  the  theory  of  their  ex  opcre 
operato  efficiency ;  the  value  of  a  knowledge  of  the  Holy 


92  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

Scriptures  was  more  belittled;  the  reality  of  a  special 
priesthood,  though  absolutely  false,  was  more  generally, 
resolutely,  accepted;  the  universal  priesthood  of  believ- 
ers was  put  more  in  the  background;  salvation  by  free 
grace  was  more  definitely  and  specifically  denied ;  the 
false  distinction  between  clergy  and  laity  and  the  equally 
false  distinction  between  the  active  and  passive  members 
of  the  Church  were  more  pressed. 

With  the  sort  of  theological  movement,  here  indicated, 
more  and  more  prevailing,  the  student  of  mediaeval  mis- 
sions can  anticipate  neither  a  missionary  life  on  the  part 
of  the  Church  as  a  whole,  nor  the  highest  form  of  mis- 
sionary effort  on  the  part  of  those  individuals  or  orders 
who  undertake  to  give  Christianity  to  the  heathen. 

II.  The  aiui  of  these  workers  throughout  this  long 
period  was,  as  in  the  Patristic  age,  to  bring  men  under 
the  power  of  the  sacraments  and  make  them  the  subjects 
of  priestly  intercession  and  manipulation.  A  feeding  on 
the  word  of  God  save  in  the  broken  and  diluted  and 
alloyed  morsels,  doled  out  in  formularies  of  worship  in 
second-hand  homilies  occasionally  rendered,  was  seldom 
attempted;  and,  as  the  mediaeval  world  grew  older,  was 
more  frowned  upon.  True,  an  exception  appeared  here 
and  there,  as  in  the  great  Alcwin.  Called  from  the  school 
at  York,  by  Charles  the  Great,  to  become  the  teacher 
of  Europe,  and  seeing  how  in  the  struggle  with  Saxon 
barbarism  the  emperor  had  imperilled  the  Church  by 
seeking  a  conformity  without  knowledge  and  with- 
out faith,  he  said  to  him:  "Carry  on  the  publication  of 
the  Divine  Words'  according  to  the  example  of  the 
Apostles."  Of  the  Bishop  of  Salzburg  he  asked,  "Of 
what  use  is  baptism  without  faith?  Faith  is  a  matter 
of  free  will,"  he  said,  "not  of  compulsion,  as  the  Holy 


Mediaeval  Catholic  Missions  93 

Augustine  says.  Man  must  be  instructed  and  taught  by 
repeated  preaching  and  especially  we  must  implore  for 
him  the  grace  of  God."  But  these  views  did  not  prevail. 
Finally,  in  Latin  Christendom,  the  word  of  God  was 
forbidden  to  laymen,  save  certain  small  portions  of  it. 
Nor  could  these  portions  be  had  in  the  vernacular.  The 
very  notion  of  New  Testament  discipleship  seemed  likely 
to  be  lost.  The  missionaries  wrought  not  to  make  dis- 
ciples but  to  induce  men  to  suffer  the  "clergy"  to  save 
them  through  priestly  services  of  magical  virtue.  In  the 
Greek  Church  a  somewhat  larger  use  was  made  of  the 
word  of  God. 

III.  He  would  be  a  rash  man  who  would  attempt  to 
maintain  that  the  New  Testament  was  studied  for  the 
principles  on  which  missions  should  he  conducted  and 
those  principles  consciously  applied.  Nothing  of  the 
sort  is  known  to  have  been  done  by  most  of  the  mission- 
ary workers.  They  seem  to  have  received  by  tradition 
from  the  Patristic  age  the  principles  which  in  that  age 
had  begun  to  supplant  those  of  the  apostolic  age.  The 
missionary  strategy  appears  in  the  workers  getting  first 
a  priestly  hold  over  leaders,  kings,  nobles',  etc.,  and  sub- 
sequently prevailing  on  them  to  enforce  the  acceptance 
of  the  current  Christianity  on  their  subjects ;  in  their 
attacks  on  heathen  superstitions  and  gods,  and,  coming 
off  unhurt,  arguing  the  victory  of  Christ  over  the  god 
whose  honor  had  been  attacked,  and  in  playing  generally 
upon  the  ignorance  and  superstition  of  the  people. 

There  were,  of  course,  missionaries  of  exceptionally 
worthy  principles  here  and  there.  There  was  one  so 
scriptural  in  the  principles  on  which  he  would  have  had 
missionary  work  done,  that  a  special  place  must  be  made 
for  him  in  this  lecture.  Of  him  more  will  be  heard  fur- 
ther on. 


94  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

IV.  The  instruments  used  were  as  in  the  preceding 
period,  the  Scriptures  and  traditions,  the  Scriptures  being 
made  to  bend  to  tradition,  bribery,  force,  poHtical,  dip- 
lomatic, mihtary,  pious  fraud,  etc. 

V.  The  methods  employed  were  also  essentially  the 
same  as  in  the  Patristic  age. 

The  evangelistic  was  one  of  their  methods.  But  the 
evangel  these  missionaries  carried  with  them  to  the 
mission  fields  had  been  overlaid  by  traditions,  and  bent 
to  suit  the  traditions.  The  missionaries  were  ready  to 
bend  the  Gospel  further,  too,  to  suit  the  occasions  pre- 
sented in  the  new  fields.  They  stooped  to  conquer.  They 
further  paganized  the  Gospel  to  suit  the  special  tastes 
of  those  to  whom  they  presented  it. 

There  was  a  crude  employment  of  the  medical  method 
of  missionary  work.  This  was  natural.  The  mission- 
aries were  usually  much  more  learned  than  the  peoples 
amongst  whom  they  worked,  and  knew  more  of  medicine. 
In  this  age,  too,  the  false  claim  of  miraculous'  powers 
was  not  infrequently  made. 

The  literary  method  was  in  application,  used  in  cases 
worthily  and  with  fine  effect,  as  by  the  venerable  Bede 
and  Alfred  the  Great  in  England;  often  greatly  abused, 
being  made  to  forward  the  worship  of  saints,  angels,  or 
relics.  Since  the  "clergy"  were  growing  in  unwillingness' 
to  allow  the  people  the  Scriptures  in  their  vernacular, 
and  because  linguistic  learning  was  at  a  low  ebb  through- 
out most  of  the  period,  and  because  amongst  most  of  the 
European  peoples  the  vernaculars  were  insufficiently  de- 
veloped to  serve  as  good  literary  vehicles',  few  and  feeble 
efforts  were  made  to  translate  the  Scriptures. 

The  educational  method  was  in  vogue  to  some  extent. 
The  leading  missionaries  were  in  most  cases  monks  as 


Mediae\'al  Catholic  Missions  95 

well  as  priests  or  bishops.  Monasteries  were  established 
throughout  the  continent  of  Europe  and  the  British  Isles. 
Some  of  them  became  seminaries  of  learning;  generally 
very  limited,  indeed,  but  of  great  value  to  the  people  in 
the  absence  of  anytWng  better.  Children  of  the  neighbor- 
hood were  frequently  taught  by  a  brother  of  the  cloister, 
the  sons  of  new  converts  of  noble  or  royal  orders  were 
often  sent  to  the  monastery  for  training;  children  were 
sometimes  dedicated  to  the  monastic  life,  in  their  child- 
hood, and  were  trained  therein  for  a  measure  of  useful- 
ness to  the  living  world  not  contemplated  by  the  founders 
of  monasticism. 

Under  the  forms  of  monasticism  the  industrial  method 
also  found  extensive  application.  A  monastery  was  as  a 
rule  an  institution  competent  to  supply  the  temporal 
necessities  of  its  members.  Some  of  the  brothers  gave  a 
measure  of  attention  to  agriculture  and  dairying  and 
stock-raising ;  some  to  the  mechanic  arts ;  in  rarer  in- 
stances, some  to  the  fine  arts  and  to  learning.  In  the 
effort  to  support  themselves  and  their  work,  they  became, 
by  example,  teachers  of  the  communities  around  them  in 
many  of  the  arts  of  civilization,  and  wrought  for  their 
material  advancement  along  many  lines. 

These  were  the  chief  methods  by  which  the  mission- 
aries sought  to  apply  their  much  be-clouded  and  be- 
covered  evangel  to  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  heathen. 
As  for  the  instruments,  bribery,  force,  pious  fraud,  etc., 
those  who  used  them,  and  they  were  very  many,  were 
not  scrupulous  or  careful  as'  to  the  method  of  their  appli- 
cation provided  it  appeared  to  promise  success. 

VI.  This  was  less  an  age  of  missionary  endeavor  on 
the  part  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Church  than  the 
Patristic  age.    The  missionaries  zvcrc  commonly  monkish 


96  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

priests  or  monks  grouped  around  a  monkish  priest.  Such 
were  Columbanus  and  Gallus,  from  the  Irish  Church, 
who  labored  in  Gaul  and  Switzerland.  Such  was  Augus- 
tine, who  became  the  first  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
whom,  when  abbot  of  the  monastery  of  Saint  Andrews 
at  Rome,  that  other  monk  who  had  been  thrust  into  the 
papacy  and  is  known  as  Gregory  the  Great,  had  pitched 
upon  to  convert  the  fair-haired  Anglo-Saxon  ration 
whom  he  himself  had  longed  to  evangelize.  Such  was 
Willibrod,  the  Northumbrian  monk,  who  labored  amongst 
the  Friesians.  This  Willibrod  stirred  up  Saxon  Winfrid, 
who  had  received  a  monastic  training,  and  become  a  monk, 
to  attempt  his'  great  labors  whereby  he  is  known  as  "the 
Apostle  of  Germany,"  Boniface.  This  Boniface,  as  de- 
sirous of  Romanizing  independent  Christian  communities 
as  of  converting  heathen,  availed  himself  of  every  favor- 
ing wind  of  circumstance.  In  the  wake  of  Charles 
Martel  he  finds  the  people  of  Hesse  open  to  his  mission- 
ary efforts.  A  temporary  absence  was  abused  by  not  a 
few  of  his  converts  to  revert  to  heathenism.  On  his 
return  he  found  many  of  them  engaged  in  Thor-worship. 
He  determined  to  strike  a  blow  that  would  shatter  all 
belief  in  Thor.  In  the  presence  of  enraged  heathen  and 
frightened  half-Christians,  he  cut  down  the  sacred  oak 
of  Giesmar  in  Hesse.  Seeing  the  mighty  tree  crash  to 
the  ground  and  the  bold  missionary  unhurt,  the  people 
shouted,  "The  Lord,  He  is  God."  The  tree  was  riven, 
and  out  of  it  a  chapel  was  built.  Converts  multiplied. 
In  the  ninth  century  Ansgar,  a  monk  of  Corbie,  was  the 
leading  missionary  of  the  Scandinavian  peoples. 

If  we  turn  to  missions  amongst  the  Slavs,  we  find  that 
the  great  missionaries  to  Bulgaria,  after  the  middle  of 
the  ninth  century,  have  come  from  the  walls  of  a  convent. 


Mediaeval  Catholic  Missions  97 

Cyrillus  had  enjoyed  unusual  advantages  for  secular 
learning,  but  had  subsequently  entered  the  clerical  state, 
taking  up  his  abode  in  a  monastery  together  with  his 
brother  Methodius.  Thence  they,  Cyril  and  Methodius, 
set  out  to  take  the  leading  part  in  the  conversion  of  the 
Bulgarian  people, — to  do  for  them  what  Ulfilas  had 
done  for  the  Goths  of  southeastern  Europe  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  fourth  century, — to  give  them  an  organized 
language  and  a  version  of  the  Bible  therein.  Just  on 
the  eve  of  the  Reformation  also  we  find  monks,  Domini- 
cans and  Franciscans,  particularly,  enlisting  in  mission- 
ary enterprise  in  the  New  World.  In  Asia  the  most 
noted  missionary  worker  of  the  long  mediaeval  era  was 
the  Latin,  Franciscan  monk,  John  de  Monte  Corvino, 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  Being  more  anxious  to  Roman- 
ize Nestorians  than  to  convert  heathen,  he  got  into 
trouble  and  secured  unsatisfactory  results.  Francis  of 
Assisi's  fruitless  forcing  himself  into  the  presence  of 
the  Sultan  of  Egypt  and  preaching  Christianity  in  his 
court  may  be  mentioned  as  a  further  indication  of  a  mis- 
sionary spirit  amongst  monastics.  The  influence  of  the 
founder  of  the  Franciscan  order  was  to  swing  his  order 
in  the  same  direction. 

The  Crusades,  beginning  in  the  end  of  the  eleventh 
and  continuing  till  near  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
have  sometimes  been  classed  as  missionary  enterprises. 
No  doubt  some  of  the  crusaders  desired  the  conversion 
of  the  Mohammedans,  but  these  seem  to  have  made  no 
worthy  efifort  to  make  converts,  and  the  great  body  of 
crusaders  were  concerned  only  to  wrest  the  holy  places' 
from  the  Islamites.  The  crusades  occupied  an  important 
place  in  the  history  of  the  progress  of  European  civiliza- 
tion.    They  were  educative  instrumentalities  in  the  hand 


98  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

of  Providence  whose  value  is  hard  to  overestimate ;  but 
they  did  not  make  in  their  own  nature  for  the  propaga- 
tion of  mediaeval  Christianity. 

Before  taking  leave  of  the  missionary  workers  of  this 
period,  more  than  passing  mention  should  be  made  of 
Raymund  Lull.  Living  in  the  thirteenth  century,  he  re- 
vived the  apostolic  conception  of  missionary  ideals ;  and 
may  well  be  written  down  as,  in  principles,  the  most 
Pauline  missionary  from  the  time  of  Constantine  to  the 
time  of  William  Carey. 

Raymund  Lull  was  born  in  that  age  of  world-wide 
confusion,  when  the  vast  power  of  the  German  Empire 
was  on  the  wane,  and  separate  states  were  crystallizing, 
when  constitutional  government  was  in  its  tottering  in- 
fancy in  England,  when  Tartars  were  overrunning 
European  Russia,  when  the  Christians  were  being  driven 
from  their  last  strongholds  in  the  Holy  Land,  when  the 
Ottoman  Turks  were  rising  into  power,  when  Genghis 
Khan's  Mongol  hordes  were  flooding  the  lands  of  the 
East,  when  all  Europe  was  poured  together  with  expecta- 
tion of  change,  when  the  feudal  system  was  breaking  up, 
when  the  use  of  gunpowder  and  the  mariner's  compass 
and  paper  were  proclaiming  the  coming  of  a  new  era, 
when  scholasticism  had  reached  its  height,  when  physical 
science  had  made  its  beginning  as  with  Roger  Bacon, 
when  the  travels  of  Marco  Polo  were  revolutionizing 
men's  notions  of  geography,  when  the  paganization  of 
Christianity  was  reaching  its  extreme  in  Europe,  when 
superstition  was  rank,  when  mediaeval  mysticism  and 
almost  all  things  mediaeval  were  grown  great.  He  was 
born  in  1235,  in  the  city  of  Palma  in  the  Island  of 
Majorca,  and  belonged  to  an  old  and  distinguished  Cata- 
lonian  familv.     He  was  accustomed  to  mediaeval  luxury 


Raymund  Lull  99 

in  his  youth,  his  parents  having  a  large  estate  and  his 
father  being  distinguished  for  miHtary  services.  At  an 
early  age  he  became  seneschal  of  James  II.  King  of 
Aragon.  In  virtue  of  his  office  he  had  superintendence 
of  feasts  and  ceremonies.  He  had  unbounded  opportuni- 
ties for  pleasures  of  a  worldly  sort;  and,  according  to 
his  own  testimony,  he  availed  himself  of  the  opportuni- 
ties. Though  married  and  blessed  with  children,  he 
sought  the  reputation  of  a  gallant  and  had  intrigues  with 
various  women, — lived  a  life  of  dashing  profligacy.  He 
prostituted  fine  poetic  gifts  and  musical  ability  to  the 
purposes  of  seduction.  True,  there  were  other  hours 
spent  in  warfare,  in  horsemanship  and  in  writing  on  thes'e 
arts.  But  his  life  was  chiefly  that  of  a  dissolute  courtier. 
The  story  of  his  conversion  has  been  told  in  the  fol- 
lowing words :  "One  evening  the  seneschal  was  sitting 
on  a  couch  with  his  cithern  on  his  knees,  composing  a 
song  in  praise  of  a  noble  married  lady  who  had  fascin- 
ated him  but  who  was  insensible  to  his  passion.  Sud- 
denly, in  the  midst  of  these  erotic  songs,  he  saw,  on  his 
right  hand,  the  Saviour  hanging  on  the  cross,  the  blood 
trickling  from  his  hands  and  feet  and  brow,  look  re- 
proachfully at  him.  Raymund,  conscience-struck,  started 
up ;  he  could  sing  no  more ;  he  laid  aside  his  cithern  and, 
deeply  moved,  retired  to  bed.  Eight  days  after,  he  again 
attempted  to  finish  the  song  and  again,  as  before,  the 
image  of  Divine  Love  incarnate  appeared — the  agonized 
form  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows.  The  dying  eyes  of  the 
Saviour  were  fixed  on  him,  mournfully  pleadingly; 

"See  from   His  head,   His  hands,   His  feet 
Sorrow  and  love  flow  mingling  down: 
Did  ere  such  love  and  sorrow  meet 
Or  thorns  compose  so  rich  a  crown?" 


loo         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

Lull  cast  his  lute  aside,  and  threw  himself  on  his  bed,  a 
prey  to  remorse.  He  had  seen  the  highest  and  deepest 
unrequitted  love.     But  the  thought  that 

"Love  so  amazing,  so  Divine 
Demands  my  soul,  my  life,  my  all, 

had  not  yet  reached  him.  The  effect  of  the  vision  was 
so  transitory  that  he  was  not  ready  to  yield  until  it  again 
repeated  itself.  Then  Lull  could  not  resist  the  thought 
that  this  was  a  special  message  to  himself  to  conquer  his 
lower  passions  and  to  devote  himself  entirely  to  Christ's 
service.  He  felt  engraved  on  his  heart,  as  it  were,  the 
great  spectacle  of  divine  self-sacrifice.  Henceforth  he 
had  only  one  passion,  to  love  and  serve  Christ.  But 
there  arose  the  doubt,  How  can  I,  defiled  with  impurity, 
rise  and  enter  on  a  holier  life?  Night  after  night,  we  are 
told,  he  lay  awake,  a  prey  to  despondency  and  doubt. 
He  wept  like  Mary  Magdalene,  remembering  how  much 
and  how  deeply  he  had  sinned.  At  length  the  thought 
occurred :  Christ  is  meek  and  full  of  compassion ;  He 
invites  all  to  come  unto  Him ;  He  will  not  cast  me  out. 
With  that  thought  came  consolation.  Because  he  was 
forgiven  so  much  he  loved  the  more,  and  concluded  that 
he  would  forsake  the  world  and  give  up  all  for  his 
Saviour."  * 

He  subsequently  was  led  to  think  that  he  could  devote 
his  energies  to  no  higher  work  than  that  of  proclaiming 
the  Gospel  to  the  Saracens.  But  as  he  w3s  a  layman,  and 
as  the  clergy  were  supreme,  he  concluded  that  he  would 
best  be^in  his  work  by  composing  a  treatise  which  should 
demonstrate  the  truth  of  Christianity  and  convince  the 

*  Samuel  M.   Zwemer,  Raymund  Lull,   pp.   34-36. 


Raymund  Lull  ioi 

warriors  of  the  Crescent  of  their  errors.  This  book 
would  be  unintelligible  to  the  Saracens,  unless  it  were 
in  Arabic.  Lull  did  not  know  Arabic.  These  and  other 
difficulties  almost  drove  him  to  despair.  He  was  not  to 
despair  utterly,  however.  The  fires  of  love  were  re- 
kindled by  the  words  of  a  Franciscan  preacher.  Lull 
made  up  his  mind  once  for  all,  sold  his  estates,  reserved 
only  a  scanty  allowance  for  wife  and  children,  and  gave 
the  rest  of  the  proceeds  to  the  poor.  His  vow  of  conse- 
cration was  as  follows: 

"To  Thee,  Lord  God,  do  I  now  oiifer  myself  and  my 
wife  and  children  and  all  that  I  possess;  and  since  I 
approach  Thee  humbly  with  this  gift  and  this  sacrifice, 
may  it  please  Thee  to  accept  all  that  I  give  Thee  and  offer 
up  for  Thee,  that  I,  my  wife  and  my  children  may  be 
Thy  humble  slaves."  t 

He  donned  the  coarse  garb  of  a  penitent;  under  the 
influence  of  the  notions  of  the  age,  he  made  pilgrimages 
to  various  Clnirches  on  the  Island  of  Majorca;  and 
prayed  for  divine  assistance  in  the  work  he  had  resolved 
to  undertake.  Love  for  the  personal  Christ  welled  up 
in  his  heart  and  moved  his  life.  Hence  the  motto  of  his 
old  age :  "He  who  loves  not  lives  not ;  he  who  lives  by 
the  life  cannot  die."  Hence  also  his  readiness  to  attack 
the  Mohammedan  world  in  one  of  its  most  aggres'sive, 
most  arrogant  and  most  dominating  periods ;  and  in  a 
period  when  Christian  misrepresentation  and  hatred  of 
the  Mohammedans  was  almost  universal  and  extreme. 
In  that  age  he  wrote :  'T  see  many  knights  going  to  the 
Holy  Land  beyond  the  seas  and  thinking  that  they  can 
acquire  it  by  force  of  arms';  but  in  the  end  all  are  de- 
stroyed  before   they    attain   that   which   they   think   to 

t  Samuel  M.  Zwemer,  Raymund  Lull,  p.  42. 


102         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

have.  Whence  it  seems  to  me  that  the  conquest  of  the 
Holy  Land  ought  not  to  be  attempted  except  in  the  way 
in  which  Thou  and  Thine  Apostles  acquired  it,  namely. 
by  love  and  prayers,  and  the  pouring  out  of  tears  and 
blood."  * 

In  order  to  make  this  conquest  he  purchased  a  Sara- 
cen slave,  and  with  him  as  a  teacher,  set  himself  to  learn 
the  Arabic  language.  He  spent  nine  years  in  this  task, 
and  in  the  contemplation  of  God,  and  in  mentally  tracing 
the  outlines  of  the  book  with  which  he  hoped  to  over- 
whelm Islam  and  demonstrate  the  articles  of  Christian 
doctrine.  In  his  forty-first  year  he  spent  four  months 
in  writing  the  book  and  praying  for  the  divine  blessing 
upon  its  arguments.  This  work,  "The  Ars  Major  sive 
Generalis"  intended  for  the  special  work  of  converting 
the  Moslems,  was  to  include  also  "a  universal  art  of  ac- 
quisition, demonstration,  confutation,  and  to  cover  the 
whole  field  of  knowledge  and  to  supersede  the  inadequate 
methods  of  previous'  schoolmen." 

Having  completed  his  "Ars  Major,"  and  drawn  at- 
tention to  it  by  lecturing  on  it  in  public,  he  persuaded  his 
king,  James  II.,  to  found  and  endow  a  monastery  in 
Majorca  in  wliich  Franciscan  monks  should  be  taught 
the  Arabic  tongue,  trained  for  disputation  with  Moslems, 
and  acquainted  with  geography.  He  sought  "to  gain  over 
the  shepherds  of  the  Church  and  the  princes'  of  Europe" 
to  the  cause  of  missions ;  he  visited  repeatedly  Rome  and 
Paris,  in  the  hope  of  having  similar  missionary  colleges 
founded.  He  plead  in  all  quarters  that  monks  of  "holy 
lives  and  great  wisdom  should  form  institutions  in  order 
to  learn  various  languages  and  be  able  to  preach  to  un- 

*  Quoted  by  Samuel  Zwemer,  Raymund  Lull,  pp.  52,  53. 


Raymund  Lull  103 

believers."  From  a  council  at  Vienna,  in  131 1,  he  at 
length  secured  a  decree  that  professorships  of  the  orien- 
tal languages  should  be  established  in  the  universities  of 
Paris',  Oxford,  and  Salamanca  and  in  all  cities  where  the 
Papal  court  should  reside."  t 

Meantime,  he  had  tried  to  influence  Christian  men  to 
go  as  missionaries  by  himself  going  on  missionary  tours. 
The  very  year  in  v^hich  Acre  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Mamelukes,  he  set  out  to  experiment  whether  he  himself 
could  not  persuade  some  of  them  by  conference  with 
their  wise  men  and  by  manifesting  to  them,  according  to 
the  "divinely  given  method,"  the  incarnation  of  the  Son 
of  God  and  the  Three  Persons  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  in 
the  Divine  unity  of  essence."  His  efforts  in  Tunis  in 
1292  were  not  fruitless,  though  he  was  finally  driven  out 
of  the  country.  Later  he  visited  Cyprus'  and  Asiatic 
Turkey.  Again  he  visited  Africa,  suffered  imprisonment 
but  was  spared  his  life  owing  to  the  honor  with  which 
he  inspired  the  Moslems  by  his  magnificent  courage.  A 
third  time  he  returned  to  Africa,  this  time  to  sacrifice 
his  life  in  the  effort  to  win  the  Moslems. 

Of  Raymund  Lull,  Dr.  George  Smith  well  says:  "No 
Church,  Papal  or  Reformed,  has  produced  a  missionary 
so  original  in  plan,  so  ardent  and  persevering  in  execu- 
tion, so  varied  in  gifts,  so  inspired  by  the  love  of  Christ, 
as  the  saint  of  seventy-nine,  whom  Mohammedans  stoned 
to  death  on  the  30th  June,  13 15.  In  an  age  of  violence 
and  faithlessness  he  was  the  apostle  of  heavenly  love."  * 

VII.  The  numbers  won  in  this  long  period  were 
considerable.      The   thirty-five   millions   of    590   became 


t  Samuel   M.  Zwemer,  Raymund  Lull,  p.  78. 

*  George  Smith.  Short  History  of  Christian  Missions,  p.  108. 


104         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

one  hundred  millions.  The  rate  of  growth  during  the 
period,  however,  was  small  as  compared  with  the  Church 
between  lOO  and  311.  Had  the  Church  grown  between 
590  and  1 5 17  as  it  grew  between  100  and  311,  it  would 
have  numbered  over  three  billions  of  people,  that  is,  it 
would  have  overtaken  the  population  of  the  globe  and 
made  the  whole  world  Christian  long  before  1517.  The 
rate  of  growth  in  this  long  period  was  only  about  one- 
thirtieth  as  rapid  as  in  the  post-apostolic  age.  Not  only 
so ;  there  were  perhaps  amongst  the  nominal  Christians 
of  1 5 17  few  more  genuine  Christians  than  were  in  the 
smaller  body  of  Christians  of  311.  The  prevalent  type 
of  Christianity  on  the  eve  of  the  Reformation  was  so 
formal,  so  legalistic,  so  sacramental,  and  so  vitiated  in 
other  respects  as  to  hinder  the  free  working  of  that  por- 
tion of  God's  truth  which  it  carried.  The  growth  of  the 
real  Church  was  much  less  than  it  seemed. 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  indeed,  that  such  had  been 
the  destruction  of  civilization  and  of  the  arts  by  the  bar- 
barian influx,  such  the  confusion  wrought  by  the  Moham- 
medan conquests  and  such  the  disturbed  state  of  society 
throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  when  every  one  was  doing 
that  which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes,  that  one  could  not 
reasonably  expect  such  growth  in  this  long  period  as  took 
place  in  the  ante-Nicene  and  post-apostolic  ages.  But 
from  the  aims  of  the  missionaries,  the  instrumentalities 
they  employed,  and  the  methods  in  vogue,  and  the  whole 
manner  of  working,  little  better  results  could  have  been 
expected. 

VIII.  Much  territory  was  lost  by  the  Christians  in 
this  age.  The  Mohammedans  overran  Arabia,  and  Syria, 
and  Egypt,  and  North  Africa,  and  Spain,  and  equally 
huge  territories  in  the  East.     In  many  quarters  they  al- 


MediaevxVL  Catholic  Missions  105 

most  annihilated  Christianity.  Everywhere  they  reduced 
it  fearfully.  But  in  Europe  large  gains  of  territory  were 
made  for  Christianity.  Germany,  save  in  its  northeast- 
ern part,  became  Christian  as  early  as  the  beginning  of 
the  ninth  century.  By  1050  Denmark  became  pretty  thor- 
oughly Christian.  Sweden  and  Norway  followed;  and 
afterward  Greenland  and  Iceland  were  affected  by  Chris- 
tian teaching.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  ninth  century 
Bulgaria  was  added  to  Christian  territory.  Towards  the 
end  of  the  tenth  century  Russia  received  wholesale  bap- 
tism ;  and  towards  the  close  of  the  period  the  re-conquest 
of  the  portion  of  Spain  long  held  by  Islamites  extended 
Christian  territory  in  that  quarter.  Europe  was  nomi- 
nally Christian  in  15 17. 

IX.  Before  leaving  the  mediaeval  missionary  work. 
which,  as  a  whole,  falls  so  far  short  of  the  apostolic 
standard  in  so  many  respects,  let  us  remark  the  intense 
devotion  and  zeal  of  many  of  the  missionaries.  There 
can  be  no  denial  of  the  sincere  and  thorough-going  con- 
secration to  the  building-up  of  the  Church  of  most  of 
them;  nor  of  the  devotion  to  the  Church  of  not  a  few 
of  them.  In  this  respect  they  are  an  example  and  inspir- 
ation to  the  Church  of  our  day. 

Let  us  remark,  also,  that  we  should  be  very  grateful 
to  God  for  them.  What  would  have  become  of  northern 
Europe  and  of  North  America  had  not  God  awakened 
this  missionary  zeal?  How  much  of  all  that  is  rightly 
prized  in  the  modern  civilizations  of  these  peoples,  could 
never  have  been  theirs  down  to  this  day,  had  these  men 
not  thus  wrought  for  them ! 


LECTURE  VI. 

Erasmus's     Missionary     Ideals;     Roman     Catholic 
Missions,  15 17  to  the  Present. 

A  noble  missionary  ideal  Avas  entertained  by  Eras- 
mus amongst  the  representatives  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  in  the  early  years  of  the  Reformation  Era. 
Erasmus  was  born  about  1467,  at  Rotterdam.  It  is 
his  glory  to  have  given  to  his  age  the  New  Testament 
in  the  original  Greek,  with  a  Latin  translation  of  his 
own  which  became  the  basis  of  Luther's  matchless 
German  version.  He  set  a  true  missionary  value  on 
God's  word.  He  longed  that  "the  weakest  woman 
should  read  the  Gospel — read  the  Epistles  of  Paul;" 
he  wished  "that  they  were  translated  into  all  languages 
so  that  they  might  be  read  and  understood  not  only 
by  Scots  and  Irishmen,  but  also  by  Turks  and  Sara- 
cens." He  desired  "that  the  husbandman  should  sing 
portions  of  them  to  himself  as  he  followed  the  plow, 
that  the  weaver  should  hum  them  to  the  tune  of  his 
shuttle ;  that  the  traveler  should  beguile  with  their 
stories  the  tedium  of  his  journey."  In  writings  from 
various  epochs  of  his  life  he  is  found  expressing  the 
desire  for  a  universal  knowledge  of  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures. He  is  found  going  out  toward  the  Turks  in  a 
way  that  reminds  one  of  Raymund  Lull.  He  writes: 
"The  most  effective  way  of  conquering  the  Turks 
would  be,  if  they  were  to  see  the  spirit  and  teaching 
of  Christ  expressed  in  our  lives;  if  they  perceived  that 
we  were  not  aiming  at  empire  over  them,  thirsting 


Erasmus's  Missioxarv  Ideals  107 

for  their  gold,  coveting  their  possessions,  or  desiring 
anything  whatsoever,  save  their  salvation  and  the  glory 
of  Christ." 

In  the  year  before  his  death  he  gave  to  the  world 
his  "Ecclesiastes,  or  a  Treatise  on  the  Manner  of  Preach- 
ing," in  four  books.  In  the  first  book,  he  treats  of 
the  dignity,  responsibility,  piety,  purity,  prudence  and 
other  virtues  of  the  preacher.  Parts  of  it  "read  like 
a  modern  missionary  address."  After  pointing  to  the 
illustrious  examples  of  Basil,  Chrysostom,  Augustine, 
and  Gregory  the  Great,  who  though  burdened  with  the 
care  of  all  the  Churches,  and  weakened  by  sickness 
and  disease,  gave  themselves  to  continual  preaching 
and  sent  forth  missionaries  to  distant  regions,  he  writes 
with  warmth : 

"We  daily  hear  men  deploring  the  decay  of  the 
Christian  religion,  who  say  that  the  Gospel  message 
which  once  extended  over  the  whole  earth  is  now  con- 
fined to  the  narrow  limits  of  this  land.  Let  those,  then, 
to  whom  this  is  an  unfeigned  cause  of  grief,  beseech 
Christ  earnestly  and  continuously  to  send  laborers  into 
His  harvest,  or,  more  correctly,  sowers  to  scatter  His 
seed.  Everlasting  God !  how  much  ground  there  is'  in 
the  world  where  the  seed  of  the  Gospel  has  never 
yet  been  sown,  or  where  there  is  a  greater  crop  of  tares 
than  of  wheat!  Europe  is  the  smallest  quarter  of  the 
globe;  Greece  and  Asia  Minor  the  most  fertile.  Into 
these  countries  the  Gospel  was  first  introduced  from 
Judea  with  great  success.  But  are  they  not  now  wholly 
in  the  hands  of  the  Mohammedans  and  men  who  do 
not  know  the  name  of  Christ?  What,  I  ask,  do  we 
now  possess  in  Asia  which  is  the  largest  continent 
when   Palestine  herself,   whence  first   shone  the  Gospel 


io8         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

light,  is  ruled  by  heathens  ?  In  Africa,  what  have  we  ? 
There  are  surely  in  these  vast  tracts  barbarous  and 
simple  tribes  who  could  easily  be  attracted  to  Christ 
if  we  sent  men  among  them  to  sow  the  good  seed.  Re- 
gions hitherto  unknown  are  being  daily  discovered, 
and  more  there  are,  as  we  are  told,  into  which  the 
Gospel  has  never  yet  been  carried.  I  do  not  at  present 
allude  to  the  millions  of  Jews  who  live  among  us,  nor 
to  the  very  many  Gentiles  who  are  attached  to  Christ 
merely  in  name,  nor  do  I  refer  to  the  schismatics  and 
heretics  which  abound.  Oh,  how  these  would  turn  to 
Christ  if  noble  and  faithful  workers  were  sent  among 
them,  who  would  sow  good  seed,  remove  tares,  plant 
righteous  trees,  and  root  out  those  wdiich  are  corrupt; 
who  would  build  up  God's  house,  and  destroy  all 
structures  which  do  not  stand  on  the  Rock  of 
Ages;  who  would  reap  the  ripe  fruit  for  Christ 
and  not  for  themselves,  and  gather  souls  for 
their  Master,  and  not  riches  for  their  own  use. 
The  King  of  Ethiopia,  commonly  known  as  the 
land  of  Prester  John,  lately  submitted  himself 
to  the  Roman  See ;  and  he  held  no  small  controversy 
with  the  Pope,  because  the  Ethiopians,  although  not 
alien  from  faith  in  Christ,  had  been  so  long  neglected 
by  the  Shepherds  of  the  world.  And  some  good  men, 
who  are  anxious  to  extend  religious  knowledge,  com- 
plain that  the  Pilapians,  who  lived  north  of  Scythia, 
and  are  wonderfully  simple  and  uncultured,  are  en- 
slaved by  some  Christian  princes ;  but  so  hard  pressed 
are  they  by  the  heavy  yoke  of  man  that  they  cannot 
take  upon  them  the  easy  yoke  of  Christ.  The  wealth 
of  others,  moreover,  has  so  spoiled  them  that  the  riches 
of  the  Gospel  avail  them  nothing.  But  is  it  not  well- 
pleasing  and  right  in  the  sight  of  God,  to  enrich  rather 


Erasmus's  Missionary  Ideals  109 

than  to  spoil  those  whom  we  strive  to  win  for  Christ, 
and  so  to  initiate  them  into  our  faith  that  they  may 
rejoice  to  have  become  subservient  to  those  under 
whose  sway  they  Hve  more  righteously  than  they  were 
hitherto  accustomed  to  do?  We  have  known  wild 
and  horrible  beasts  to  have  been  trained  either  for 
pleasure  or  for  ordinary  labor ;  but  have  we  known 
men  to  have  been  so  humanized  as  to  serve  Christ? 
Kings  keep  in  their  employment  men  whose  duty  it  is 
to  teach  elephants  to  leap,  lions  to  sport,  and  lynxes 
and  leopards  to  hunt ;  but  has  the  King  of  the  Church 
ever  found  men  ready  to  call  their  fellows  to  the  ser- 
vice of  his  dear  Son?  I  know  there  is  no  beast  to 
tame  so  difficult  as  the  stubborn  and  hard-hearted  Jew; 
but  nevertheless  even  he  can  be  brought  into  subjec- 
tion by  kindness  and  love.  But  now  I  speak  of  nations 
who  stray  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  because  they 
have  never  had  any  Christian  teaching.  So  true  is  this, 
that  if  we  can  credit  the  account  of  travellers  who 
visit  these  regions  the  Christian  princes  themselves 
who  rule  them  prevent  any  missionary  of  the  Gospel 
from  visiting  their  dominions,  lest,  gaining  wisdom, 
their  subjects  should  throw  ofif  the  grievous  yoke  under 
which  they  labor.  For  these  tyrants  would  rather  rule 
brutes  than  men. 

"And  what  shall  I  say  of  those  who  sail  around  un- 
knovv-n  shores,  and  plunder  and  lay  waste  whole  states, 
without  provocation?  What  name  is  given  to  such 
deeds?  They  are  called  victories.  Even  the  heathen 
would  not  praise  a  victory  over  men  against  whom  no 
war  had  been  declared.  But  they  say,  the  Turks  de- 
light in  such  victories.  This  then  is  an  excuse  for 
razing  cities  to  the  ground !    I   do  not  know  whether 


no         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

the  advancement  of  the  Christian  faith  would  ex- 
cuse the  demohtion  of  a  city  by  a  Turk.  There  is 
the  greatest  difference  between  robbery  and  Chris- 
tian warfare,  between  preaching  the  kingdom  of  faith 
and  setting  up  tyrants  with  their  interests  in  this  world, 
between  seeking  the  safety  of  souls  and  pursuing  the 
spoil  of  Mammon.  Travellers  bring  home  from  distant 
lands  gold  and  gems ;  but  it  is  worthier  to  carry  hence 
the  wisdom  of  Christ,  more  precious  than  gold,  and 
the  pearl  of  the  Gospel,  which  would  put  to  shame 
all  earthly  riches.  We  give  too  much  attention 
to  the  things  which  debase  our  souls.  Christ  orders  us 
to  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send  forth  laborers, 
because  the  harvest  is  plenteous  and  the  laborers  are 
few.  Must  we  not  then  pray  God  to  thrust  forth  lab- 
orers into  such  vast  tracts?  But  all  offer  various  ex- 
cuses. Moreover  there  are  thousands  of  the  Francis- 
cans who  believe  in  Christ,  and  a  large  number  of 
them  in  all  probability  burn  with  Seraphic  fire.  And 
the  Dominicans  also  abound  in  equal  numbers,  and 
it  is  admitted  that  very  many  of  them  have  in  them 
the  Spirit  of  Cherubim.  From  among  them  let  men 
be  chosen  who  are  indeed  dead  to  the  world  and  alive 
to  Christ,  to  teach  the  word  of  God  in  truth  to  the 
heathen.  Some  excuse  themselves  on  the  ground  that 
they  are  ignorant  of  foreign  language.  Shall  princes 
have  no  difficulty  in  finding  men  who,  for  the  purpose 
of  human  diplomacy,  are  well  acquainted  with  various 
tongues?  Even  Themistocles  the  Athenian  in  one  year 
so  mastered  Persian  that  he  could  dispense  with  an 
interpreter  in  his  intercourse  with  the  king.  And  shall 
we  not  suffer  the  same  zeal  in  so  noble  an  enterprise? 
"Moreover,  food  and  clothing  were  not  wanting  to 


Erasmus's  Missionary  Ideals  hi 

the  apostles  among  the  savage  and  distant  peoples 
visited.  God  also  has  promised  to  supply  all  the  needs 
of  those  who  further  his  kingdom.  But  if  missionaries 
labor  among  a  people  so  ungrateful  as  to  deny  them 
bread,  water,  or  shelter,  let  them  follow  the  shining- 
example  of  Paul,  that  strong  pillar  of  the  Church,  who 
worked  with  his  own  hands  that  he  might  be  indepen- 
dent of  all.  He  indeed  stitched  together  goat  skins 
for  those  believers  to  whom  he  gave  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  consecrated  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord. 
Neither  will  miracles  be  denied,  if  circumstances  de- 
mand them,  only  believe  with  holy  love.  Or  at  least 
a  mind  free  from  earthly  lusts,  a  life  of  unbroken 
sobriety,  a  zeal  to  serve  all  men,  long-suffering. 
patience,  becoming  modesty,  and  an  humble  demeanor, 
will  avail  instead  of  miracles.  For  even  the  apostles 
did  not  everywhere  work  miracles,  but  they  owed  their 
success  in  preaching  the  Gospel  rather  to  those  attri- 
butes which  I  have  mentioned.  For  miracles  which 
show  the  Spirit  of  God  working  in  men,  are  ascribed 
by  many  to  magic. 

"I  have  not  dealt  with  the  last  excuse,  that  is,  the 
risk  of  death.  Indeed  since  man  can  die  but  once,  what 
can  be  more  glorious  and  blessed  than  to  die  for  the 
Gospel.  Travellers  go  to  the  utmost  part  of  the  earth 
to  see  Jerusalem,  and  in  so  doing  expose  their  lives 
to  danger.  Nor  do  all  such  return  in  safety  from  their 
journey.  Yet  crowds  of  men  go  every  year  to  Jerusa- 
lem to  see  all  sorts  of  places,  and  give  no  excuse  for 
the  risk  they  run  of  being  killed.  To  see  the  ruins 
of  Jerusalem  !  What,  I  ask,  is  great  in  that?  But  what 
a  great  achievement  it  is  to  build  a  spiritual  Jerusa- 
lem in  the  soul !    How  many  soldiers  there  are  who 


112         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

fearlessly  rush  into  battle,  counting  their  lives  vile  in 
comparison  with  human  praise.  And  yet  does  the 
Lord  of  all,  v^ho  has  promised  as  a  reward,  a  crown 
of  glory,  find  soldiers  endued  with  a  like  mind?  How 
much  better  it  is  to  die  as  Paul  did,  than  to  be  wasted 
by  consumption,  to  be  tortured  for  many  years  by 
gout,  to  be  racked  by  paralysis,  or  to  suffer  a  thou- 
sand deaths  by  the  disease  of  the  stone?  Let  us  re- 
member also  that  death  will  not  come  before  the  time 
God  has  appointed.  Death  is  not  to  be  feared  under 
the  protection  of  Christ,  who  will  not  suffer  a  hair  to 
fall  to  the  ground  without  the  will  of  the  Father. 
Lastly,  how  does  it  happen  that  those  who  are  called 
to  the  apostleship  are  deterred  from  their  duties  by 
the  love  of  life?  It  is  the  first  duty  of  an  apostle  to 
spend  his  life  for  the  Gospel.  Why,  what  account  of 
life  was  taken  by  Crates  the  Theban,  Socrates  the 
Athenian,  Diogenes  of  Sinope,  and  all  those  other 
philosophers  who  never  knew  Christ  nor  the  apostles? 
"Bestir  yourselves  then,  ye  heroic  and  illustrious 
leaders  of  the  army  of  Christ ;  put  on  the  helmet  of  sal- 
vation, the  breast-plate  of  righteousness ;  take  to  your- 
selves the  shield  of  faith,  and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
Avhich  is  the  word  of  God ;  have  your  loins  girt  with 
humility,  your  feet  shod  with  holy  affections ;  in  a 
word  be  clothed  with  the  whole  mystic  armor  for 
preaching  the  Gospel  of  peace.  Address  yourselves 
with  fearless  minds  to  such  a  glorious  work.  Over- 
turn, quench,  destroy,  not  men,  but  ignorance,  godless- 
ness  and  other  sins.  For  to  kill  thus  is  only  to  pre- 
serve. Do  not,  however,  make  earthly  gain  the  object 
of  your  labors,  but  strive  to  enrich  the  heathen  with 
spiritual  treasures.     Count  it  great  gain  if  you  save 


Erasmus's  Missionary  Ideals  113 

for  the  Redeemer  souls  snatched  from  the  tyranny, 
and  lead  thousands  in  triumph  to  Him  in  heaven.  It 
is  hard  work  I  call  you  to,  but  it  is  the  noblest  and 
highest  of  all.  Would  that  God  had  accounted  me 
worthy  to  die  in  such  a  holy  work,  rather  than  to  be 
consumed  by  the  slow  death  in  the  tortures  I  endure ! 
Yet  no  one  is  fit  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen 
who  has  not  made  his  mind  superior  to  riches  or 
pleasure,  aye,  even  to  life  and  death  itself.  The  cross 
is  never  wanting  to  those  who  preach  the  word  of 
the  Lord  in  truth.  To-day  even,  there  are  kings,  not 
unlike  Herod,  who  mock  at  Christ  and  His  doctrine. 
There  are  men  like  Annas  and  Caiaphas,  there  are 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  who  would  rather  see  heaven 
fall  than  allow  any  part  of  their  power,  or  authority 
to  decline.  There  are  craftsmen  who  rage  as  Deme- 
trius did  of  old  at  Ephesus  against  the  apostles  who 
endangered  his  trade  by  their  preaching.  There  are 
still  Jews,  who  appearing  to  be  friends  of  Christ,  would 
sell  Him,  and  give  His  body  to  whosoever  desired  it. 
There  are  still  crowds  who  cry  with  vindictive  hate. 
Crucify  Him!    Crucify  Him!"* 

This  noble  ideal,  set  forth  by  the  Prince  of  the 
Humanists,  can  hardly  have  failed  to  bring  forth  some 
fruit  in  the  lives  of  individual  representatives  of  the 
Romish  branch  of  Christendom  to  which  he  continued 
to  cling.  The  ideals  of  mission  work  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  at  large,  however,  seem  to  have  been 
little  affected  by  it.  There  was  no  practical  effort 
to  put  it  into  reality.    This  will  appear  in  the  review 

*  Copied  from  George  Smith's  "Short  History  of  Christian 
Missions",  pp.  115-118. 


114         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

of  Roman  Catholic  Missions,  1517  to  1908,  now  to  be 
given. 

I.  The  theoretical  grasp  of  Christianity  held  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  has  remained  -fixed,  for  the  most 
part,  throughout  this  long  period.  The  Council  of 
Trent,  meeting  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
gave  fixedness  to  the  faith.  The  additions  to  the  creed 
of  the  dogma  of  the  immaculate  conception  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  in  1854,  and  the  dogma  of  Papal  infalli- 
bility and  absolutism,  in  1870,  were,  though  import- 
ant, not  radical  additions ;  and  for  the  purposes  of  this 
review  may  be  ignored.  Besides,  these  doctrines  were, 
from  the  reformation,  practically  a  part  of  the  creed 
of  a  large  portion  of  the  Romish  body. 

In  general  the  theory  of  Christianity  obtaining  in 
this  modern  era  is  essentially  that  which  prevailed 
commonly  in  the  Mediaeval  era.  The  influence  of  the 
Protestant  movement  may  be  clearly  seen,  it  is  true, 
in  the  Trent  creed ;  and  not  only  in  the  numerous 
anathemas  which  is  called  forth ;  but  in  the  modifica- 
tion of  many  doctrinal  statements  in  a  faintly  Protes- 
tant direction.  Protestant  teaching  had  impressed  the 
thought  of  the  Papal  Church  to  such  a  degree  that 
partial,  if  slight  concessions,  to  Protestant  thought 
find  expression  in  the  decrees  of  Trent.  Nevertheless, 
the  theory  of  Christianity  embodied  in  the  creed  is 
thoroughly  legalistic,  sacramental  and  priestly.  Human 
works  are  given  a  large  place  in  the  outworking  of 
redemption.  Immense  value  is  put  upon  the  sacra- 
ments. Salvation  begins  with  and  is  carried  on  and 
completed  by  them.  The  theory  of  their  ex  opere  operate 
efficiency  is  maintained.    The  dogma  of  the  special  priest- 


Modern  Romish  Missions  115 

hood  finds  the  most  definite  and  assured  expression. 
If  the  universal  priesthood  be  conceded  formally,  the 
concession  amounts  to  nothing.  He  who  is  not  of  the 
priesthood  has  no  immediate  access  to  God.  He  can- 
not read  God's  words  except  under  restrictions  de- 
termined by  the  hierarchy.  In  some  cases  these  re- 
strictions amount  to  prohibition  entire  and  complete; 
in  some  cases  they  open  the  way  to  very  important 
ethical  and  devotional  parts  of  the  Scriptures,  shutting 
off  from  those  portions  more  immediately  concerned 
with  the  great  doctrines  of  grace ;  and  in  cases  where 
certain  are  permitted  to  have  a  specified  version  of 
the  Scriptures,  they  are  not  allowed  to  put  any  other 
interpretation  on  any  essential  part  of  the  Scriptures 
than  the  interpretation  which  the  priesthood  puts.  So 
everywhere  the  special  priest  is  held  to  be  a  necessary 
mediator  between  God  and  man.  The  "layman"  is  a 
passive  member  of  the  Church.  He  must  be  carried 
by  the  priesthood.  The  Scriptural  doctrines  of  a  free 
access  to  the  word  of  God,  a  free  but  reverent  inter- 
pretation of  it,  a  free  and  immediate  access  to  the 
throne  of  grace,  and  of  gratuitous  justification,  on  the 
sinner's  exercise  of  faith,  were  put  under  the  ana- 
thema. 

With  such  a  view  of  Christianity  it  was  not  to  be 
expected  that  the  Church  as  such,  including  the  rank 
and  file,  should  be  missionary  in  spirit  and  conduct;  nor 
that  the  aim,  methods,  means,  or  achievements  of  such 
orders  and  individuals  as  should  engage  in  mission 
work  shall  appear  generally  commendable  from  a  Bibli- 
cal point  of  view. 

II.  The  aim  of  these  workers  continued  to  be,  to  bring 


ii6         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

men  under  the  manipulation  of  priestly  hands — un- 
der the  power  of  the  sacraments,  and  priestly  inter- 
cession and  under  some  little  priestly  tuition.  Few 
of  the  missionaries  were  concerned  to  teach  the  men 
they  nominally  discipled  more  than  a  mere  superfi- 
cial knowledge  of  the  Decalogue,  the  Lord's  prayer, 
and  the  apostles'  creed.  Few  of  them  were  concerned 
to  discover  in  those  whom  they  received  into  the  Church 
the  marks  of  a  genuine  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
The  Roman  Catholic  priest  of  to-day  holds  that  pro- 
vided the  candidate  is  not  in  "mortal  sin"  un- 
repented  of,  and  does  not  oppose  a  bar  in  the  shape 
of  a  volition  of  his  own  will  not  to  receive  good  from 
the  sacrament,  he  can  by  baptism  regenerate  him.  He 
holds  that  by  an  indissoluble  bond  the  spiritual  graces 
symbolized  in  the  sacraments  are  tied  to  the  visible 
material  elements ;  and  that  he  can  do  the  thing  sym- 
bolized. Such  an  one  naturally  seeks  above  all  things 
to  get  men  under  his  magical  hands. 

in.  It  must  be  said  that  little  respect  has  been 
paid  by  the  Roman  Church  to  the  principles  set  forth 
in  the  Nczv  Testament  for  the  regulation  of  missionary 
endeavor.  Naturally  they  turn  to  other  sources  for  their 
principles ;  since  the  New  Testament  looks  not  to  get- 
ting men  under  the  hands  of  intermediaries  between 
God  and  them ;  but  to  bringing  them  through  an  in- 
telligent faith  into  the  adoption  of  sons,  God  Himself 
graciously  working  in  them  the  power  of  that  faith. 
The  distinctive  principles  of  modern  Roman  Catholic 
missions  are  largely  referable  to  men's  devising.  They 
do  not  try  to  bear  witness  in  any  one  period  where 
their    witness-bearing    will    result    in    the    greatest    effi- 


Modern  Romish  Missions  117 

cient  additional  army  of  witness-bearers.  Every  mis- 
sion move  has  been  directed  toward  the  upbuilding 
of  the  power  of  the  Church  of  Trent,  the  upbuilding 
of  the  power  of  the  hierarchy  and  the  Pope — an  hier- 
archy undoubtedly  most  corrupt  when  considered  as  a 
whole.  In  this  work  the  Church  has  shown  much 
human  strategy  and  tactics,  for  the  most  part  as  un- 
spiritual  as  that  shown  in  the  histories  of  secular 
powers.  In  short  paganization  and  secularization  had 
run  to  such  lengths  in  the  Romish  Church  before  the 
time  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  that  the  principles  which 
governed  her  missionary  operations  had  become  almost 
secular.  They  were  about  such  as  any  secular  power, 
with  equal  wisdom  at  its  command,  and  with  a  natural 
religion  which  it  was  interested  to  spread,  might  have 
endeavored  to  apply. 

IV.  The  Instruments  used  in  the  effort  at  the  propa- 
gation of  the  Church,  have  continued  to  be  the  Scrip- 
tures as  interpreted  by  the  Church,  Church  tradition 
to  which  the  Scriptures  have  been  made  to  bend, 
bribery,  pious  fraud,  force  political,  diplomatic,  or 
military,  further  paganization  of  the  worship  and  life 
of  Christianity  and  so  forth,  as  occasions  presented  the 
opportunity  and  the  temptation.  A  glaring  but  by  no 
means  lonely  example  of  effort  at  wholesale  bribery 
was  given  by  Louis  XIV.,  in  his  effort  to  convert  the 
Huguenots.  He  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in 
France  applied  every  form  of  political  and  military 
force  also  in  the  effort  to  convert  the  Huguenots,  The 
history  of  every  country  of  Western  Europe,  the  his- 
tory of  many  sections  in  North  and  South  America, 
the  history  of  Japan,  the  history  of  Madagascar  and  of 


ii8         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

India,  etc.,  tell  of  similar  instances  of  the  use  of  secu- 
lar force  to  forward  the  progress  of  the  Church.* 

Pious  fraud  and  further  paganization  of  Chris- 
tian worship  and  life  have  been  resorted  to  wherever 
they  promised  to  aid  in  getting  control  of  a  people,  or 
a  class,  or  individuals.  The  Jesuits  have  been  most 
remarkable  for  their  use  of  pious  fraud  and  accommo- 
dation. Some  extreme  instances  may  be  referred  to 
with  propriety  in  this  connection.  About  1606  Robert 
de  Nobili,  a  nephew  of  Cardinal  Bellarmine  and  the 
grand-nephew  of  Pope  Marcellus  II.,  "began  in  South 
India  that  system  of  conversion  based  upon  a  lie,  which 
lasted  for  a  century  and  a  half  before  it  ended  in  the 
collapse  of  the  mission  and  the  suppression  of  the 
order."  He  and  many  distinguished  associates  de- 
liberately professed  to  be  Brahmans,  made  solemn 
oaths  that  they  had  sprung  from  Brahma.  They 
lived  as  Brahminical  penitents,  clad  in  orange- 
colored  dress,  and  sitting  on  a  tiger  skin;  and 
joining  in  worship  at  once  impious  and  in- 
decent. All  this  was  to  conceal  their  foreign  origin, 
the  knowledge  of  which  they  thought  would  be  fatal 
to  success ;  and  to  enable  them  to  do  their  priestly 
work  on  Brahmans  who  had  no  thought  of  abandoning 
their  hereditary  faith  for  Christianity.  While  this  base 
and  hypocritical  course  stank  not  only  in  the  nostrils 
of  Prostentants    but  also    in  those    of    multitudes    of 

*  "The  doctrine  promulgated  by  Benedict  XIV.,  and  re- 
affirmed by  Pius  VI.  in  1791  is  held  in  the  Catholic  Church: 
that  the  heathen  are  not  to  be  forced  into  obedience  to  the 
Church,  but  that  Protestants  who  have  received  baptism  are 
so  to  be  forced;"  but.  in  practice,  the  Roman  Catholics  have 
not  always  been  so  liberal;  and  the  principle  itself  allows  the 
use  of  certain  forms  of  force  against  the  heathen. 


Modern  Romish  Missions  119 

Roman  Catholics,  it  was  not,  in  generic  character,  other 
than  could  be  duplicated  on  most  Romish  missionary 
fields.  As  early  as  1579,  Ricci  had  entered  China.  He 
lived  a  cunning  life,  allowed  the  worship  of  ancestors 
and  of  Confucius  to  be  carried  on  along  with  the 
worship  of  Mary,  that  he  might  enjoy  the  favor  of 
the  Emperor  and  the  government.  He  pretended  to  be 
a  Buddhist  priest.  If  this  again  is  an  extreme  case, 
it  is  generically  typical;  accommodation,  dissimulation, 
and  indirection  were  characteristic  of  other  orders  than 
Jesuits.  In  Manilla,  where  the  monks  of  the  Augus- 
tinian,  Franciscan  and  Dominican  orders  controlled 
the  people  ecclesiastically  and  politically  during  the 
Spanish  occupancy  of  the  island,  "the  Roman  Catholic 
ritual  became  mingled  in  the  most  extraordinary  man- 
ner with  ceremonies  borrowed  from  Paganism." 

V.  The  Methods  employed  have  been,  for  the  most 
part,  those  which  the  Church  brought  over  with  it 
out  of  the  Mediaeval  era. 

The  missionaries  have  made  use  of  a  method  analo- 
gous to  the  evangelistic.  They  have  done  considerable 
preaching  of  their  partial  and  vitiated  evangel.  The 
method  of  Xavier  may  be  taken  as  a  worthy  example 
of  this  species  of  work.  His  method,  as  pursued  at 
Travancore  in  India,  is  thus  described  by  himself:  "As 
soon  as  I  arrived  in  any  heathen  village  where  they 
sent  me  to  give  baptism,  I  gave  orders  for  all — men, 
women,  and  children — to  be  collected  in  one  place. 
Then,  beginning  with  the  first  elements  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  I  taught  them  there  is  one  God — I  made 
them  each  make  three  times'  the  sign  of  the  cross ;  then, 
putting  on  a  surplice,  I  began  to  recite  in  a  loud  voice 
and  in  their  own  language,  the  form  of  general  con- 


120         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

fession,  the  Apostles'  Creed,  the  Ten  Commandments, 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Ave  Maria,  and  the  Salve  Regina. 
Two  years  ago  I  translated  all  these  prayers  into  the 
language  of  the  country,  and  learned  them  by  heart. 
I  recited  them  so  that  all,  of  every  age  and  condition, 
followed  me  in  them.  Then  I  began  to  explain  shortly 
the  Articles  of  the  Creed,  and  the  Ten  Commandments 
in  the  language  of  the  country.  When  the  people  ap- 
peared to  me  sufficiently  instructed  to  receive  bap- 
tism, I  ordered  them  all  to  ask  God's  pardon  publicly 
for  the  sins  of  their  past  life,  and  to  do  this  with  a 
loud  voice  and  in  the  presence  of  their  neighbors,  still 
hostile  to  the  Christian  religion,  in  order  to  touch  the 
hearts  of  the  heathen  and  confirm  the  faith  of  the 
good.  All  the  heathen  are  filled  with  admiration  at 
the  holiness  of  the  law  of  God,  and  express  the  greatest 
shame  at  having  lived  so  long  in  ignorance  of  the  true 
God.  They  willingly  hear  about  the  mysteries  and 
rules  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  treat  me,  poor  sin- 
ner as  I  am,  with  the  greatest  respect.  Many,  how- 
ever, put  away  from  them  with  hardness  of  heart  the 
truth  which  they  well  know.  When  I  have  done  my 
instruction,  I  ask  one  by  one,  all  those  who  desire 
baptism  if  they  believe  without  hesitation  in  each  of 
the  articles  of  faith.  All  immediately,  holding  their 
arms  in  the  form  of  the  cross,  declare  with  one  voice 
that  they  believe  all  entirely.  Then  at  last  I  baptise 
them  in  due  form,  and  give  to  each  his  name  written 
on  a  ticket.  After  their  baptism  the  new  Christians 
go  back  to  their  houses  and  bring  out  their  wives  and 
families  for  baptism.  When  all  are  baptized  I  order 
all  the  temples  of  their  false  gods  to  be  destroyed  and 
all  the  idols  to  be  broken  in  pieces.     I  can  give  you 


Modern  Romish  Missions  121 

no  idea  of  the  joy  I  feel  in  seeing  this  done,  witnessing 
the  destruction  of  the  idols  by  the  very  people  who 
lately  adored  them.  In  all  the  towns  and  villages  I 
leave  the  Christian  doctrine  in  writing  in  the  language 
of  the  country,  and  I  prescribe  at  the  same  time  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  to  be  taught  in  the  morning  and 
evening  schools.  When  I  have  done  all  this  in  one 
place,  I  pass  to  another,  and  so  on  successively  to  the 
rest.  In  this  way  I  go  all  around  the  country,  bringing 
the  natives  into  the  fold  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  joy 
that  I  feel  in  this  is  far  too  great  to  be  expressed  in  a 
letter." 

Xavier  labored  with  intense  zeal,  endeavoring  to 
"evangelize"  many  countries.  Superficially  as  his  work 
was  done,  his  teaching  was  probably  not  less  effective 
in  any  one  locality  than  that  of  the  average  propagator 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  He  was  less  inclined 
to  paganize  further  the  Gospel  he  carried  than  vast 
numbers  of  his  fellow  workers  showed  themselves  to 
be. 

The  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  of  this  period 
have  used  medicine  largely  as  an  aid  in  mission  work. 
We  owe  to  them  the  use  of  cinchona  which  has  made 
mission  work  possible  in  fever-stricken  lands ;  and 
ipecac,  and  many  other  remedies.  Apart  from  such 
discoveries  they  carried  with  them  into  many  coun- 
tries a  larger,  if  crude,  knowledge  of  medicine  and  sur- 
gery than  obtained  amongst  these  peoples ;  and  made 
it  a  means  of  winning  favor  and  introducing  the  faith. 
Sham  miracles  were  also  wrought,  hypocondriacs  were 
made  to  think  themselves  cured  by  unscrupulous  propa- 
gandists. Miracle  working  relics  and  shrines  were  in- 
vented.   In  cases  not  infrequent  a  vast  hold  was  gained 


122         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

over  credulous  peoples  by  this  counterfeit  of  the  medi- 
cal method. 

The  Literary  method  has  been  applied  after  a  sort. 
Not  being-  much  given  to  teaching,  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  cannot  be  expected,  on  a  purely  foreign  mis- 
sion field,  to  pursue  the  literary  method  save  in  a  halt- 
ing and  restricted  way.  Given  to  the  invention  of  tales 
of  saints  and  relics,  it  has  made  the  literary  arm  sub- 
servient to  the  unworthy  end  of  saint  worship. 

The  Educational  method  has  found  a  limited  applica- 
tion. Throughout  a  great  portion  of  the  period  little 
attention  was  paid  by  the  Romish  missionaries  to  edu- 
cation. 

The  Jesuits  indeed,  in  their  efforts  to  re-extend 
Romanism  over  portions  of  the  German  Empire,  did 
make  an  effective  use  of  the  educational  method.  They 
got  a  hold  of  the  youth  of  the  middle  and  higher 
classes ;  educated  them  for  important  civil  positions, 
and  at  the  same  time  turned  them  into  biggoted  and 
wiley  disciples  of  their  own  order.  It  is  not  apparent 
that  the  general  education  of  the  people  was  desired  by 
the  Jesuits.  They  were  the  stoutest  henchmen  of  the 
Papacy;  and  the  Papacy  can  maintain  its  pretensions 
better  amongst  the  ignorant  and  the  learned  sophists. 
Honest,  open-minded,  intelligent,  but  unsophisticated 
men,  stumble  at  its  doctrines.  Little  of  an  educative 
character  was  attempted  by  the  Jesuits  in  the  African, 
Asiatic,  or  American  missions,  prior  to  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  Hence  conditions  were  not 
created  favorable  to  the  production  of  a  strong  Chris- 
tian character ;  and  when,  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
later  Protestant  missionaries  entered  the  Asiatic  field, 
"they  found  themselves  without  the  slightest  basis  for 


Modern  Romish  Missions  123 

work  in  the  form  of  existing  versions  of  the  Scriptures." 
Within  the  last  hundred  years  Papists  have  made  con- 
siderable improvement,  but  for  the  most  part  only 
where  driven  by  outside  influence,  as  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  in  order  to  maintain  their  hold  on 
the  minds  of  the  youth,  or  to  derive  advantage  of 
support  by  some  civil  power,  and  prevent  the  making 
of  anti-Romish  impressions. 

An  industrial  method  has  found  frequent  applica- 
tion. For  example,  in  California,  the  plan  was  pur- 
sued of  gathering  the  natives  into  communities  where 
their  industrial  as  well  as  religious  training  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  missionaries.  There  were  no  less  than 
twenty-three  such  communities  formed  as  early  as  1823 
within  the  bounds  of  California.  Similar  communi- 
ties were  formed  in  other  quarters.  The  reductions  in 
Paraguay,  under  Jesuit  auspices,  were  conspicuous 
examples  of  this  method. 

These  were  the  chief  of  the  methods  used  by  Rome 
in  wielding  her  much  be-clouded  and  changed  evangel. 
In  the  use  of  her  weapons  of  force,  bribery,  accommo- 
dation of  the  Christianity  she  carried,  she  has  not  been 
very  scrupulous  as  to  method.  Now  and  then  she  has 
been  pricked  in  conscience  by  the  extremes  to  which 
certain  of  her  representatives  have  gone  in  accommoaa- 
tion  as  has  appeared  already. 

VI.  The  missionaries  were  not  of  course  mere  pri- 
vate members  of  the  Church,  such  members  having 
little  instrumentality  in  the  spread  of  the  Church,  ac- 
cording to  the  thought  of  the  Romish  communion. 
The  Franciscans,  Dominicans,  Jesuits,  have  been  fore- 
most in  providing  the  missionaries.  They  were  all 
missionary  orders.     Amongst  these,  the  Jesuits  have 


124         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

been  most  marked  for  ardor,  zeal,  and  success ;  and, 
Xavier,  whose  methods  of  work  have  been  presented, 
occupies  the  rank  of  the  most  distinguished  Roman 
CathoHc  missionary  of  the  modern  era. 

Born  in  the  kingdom  of  Navarre  in  1506,  he  came 
in  his  youth  and  young  manhood,  very  fully  under  the 
influence  of  Protestant  doctrines,  which  were  blessed  of 
God  to  make  him  saintly  in  experience,  aim  and  life. 
Having  been  saved,  as  he  wrote,  by  Ignatius  Loyola, 
from  "the  deplorable  dangers  arising  from  my  fami- 
liarity with  men  breathing  out  heresy,"  he  adopted  the 
Romish  theory  of  sacramental  salvation.  Hence,  as 
has  been  seen,  he  thought  it  the  important  thing  to 
baptize  men  and  secure  from  them  the  recital  of  the 
creed  and  a  few  prayers.  He  commenced  the  foreign 
missionary  work  of  the  order,  gave  it  an  impulse  "which 
was  caught  up  by  numerous  successors,  until  the 
record  of  the  sixteenth  century,  so  far  at  least  as  the 
extension  of  the  Church  went,  is  one  of  the  most  won- 
derful in  history."  Receiving  the  appointment  of 
apostolic  nuncio  for  India,  in  1542,  he  began  his  work 
in  the  Christian  settlements  about  Goa,  and  extended 
it  to  the  heathen  along  the  coast  both  East  and 
West.  He  exerted  a  marvelous  influence  wherever  he 
went,  won  converts  by  the  thousands.  He  worked  for 
three  years  in  South  India,  for  the  most  part  among 
the  lower  castes;  thence  passed  to  the  Chinese  Archipe- 
lago, Malacca,  the  Molucas,  and  other  islands.  In  1549 
he  went  to  Japan,  labored  there  for  two  years  with 
great  success.  He  was  about  to  enter  China  when 
his  earthly  career  was  cut  oflf,  December  2,  1552.  Fel- 
low Jesuits  carried  on  the  work  which  he  had  inau- 
gurated in  these  several  countries :  and  effected  an  en- 


Modern  Romish  Missions  125 

trance  into  China.  The  vicious  customs  into  which 
they  descended,  particularly  in  India  and  China,  have 
been  referred  to. 

Amongst  the  most  prominent  Dominican  mission- 
aries of  the  period  was  Bartholomew  de  Las  Casas, 
who  went  to  St.  Domingo  as  a  missionary  to  the  In- 
dians in  1535;  was  made  bishop  of  Chiapa,  Mexico, 
in  1544;  and  spent  his  life  in  preaching  to  the  Ameri- 
can Aborigines  and  in  defending  them  against  the 
cruelty  of  their  conquerors.  To  rescue  the  Indians 
from  the  slavery  to  which  their  conquerors  were  re- 
ducing them,  he  sanctioned  the  scheme  of  supplying 
their  places  in  the  mines  and  pearl  fisheries  with 
negroes  imported  from  Africa.  He  did  this  that  his 
converts  might  be  spared  and  because  the  Africans 
could  better  endure  these  labors.  He  afterwards,  how- 
ever, regarded  his  course  as  a  mistake  and  deplored  it 
as  unjust  to  the  Africans.    He  died  in  1566. 

The  Franciscans  were  very  active  in  missionary  en- 
deavor; but  produced  no  leaders  of  equal  eminence 
with  Las  Casas,  the  Dominican,  or  Xavier,  the  Jesuit. 

During  the  sixteenth  century  these  orders  indulged 
in  mutual  jealousies  and  antagonism.  Hence  the  need 
of  some  common  controlling  power  to  direct  the 
various  missionary  hosts  and  to  prevent  friction,  be- 
came apparent.  After  some  experimentation  the 
Congregation  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  was 
established. 

This  "congregation"  was  founded  by  the  first  Jesuit 
pupil  who  became  Pope — founded  June  21,  1622.  It 
consists  of  cardinals,  prelates,  consultors  and  secre- 
taries, all  appointed  by  the  Pope ;  and  has  vast  preroga- 
tives.    It  was  designed  to  propagate  and  maintain  the 


126         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

Gospel  in  all  parts  of  the 'world.  It  has  long  been  a 
richly  endowed  institution.  In  1627,  Urban  VIII., 
added  to  it,  the  Collegio  di  Propaganda  Fide,  founded 
by  a  wealthy  Spanish  noble,  the  two  forming  the 
richest  and  best  equipped  missionary  institution  in  the 
world.  It  has  grown  richer  with  the  passing  years.  It 
has  affiliated  with  it  seminaries  and  agencies  for  rais- 
ing money  in  every  part  of  the  Roman  Catholic  world. 
It  overlooks  the  education  and  support  of  all  mission- 
aries and  determines  what  orders  shall  work  in  the 
several  fields. 

VII.  The  numbers  won  were  considerable.  The  con- 
verts made  by  the  Jesuits  in  India  and  Eastern  Asia 
ran  up  into  the  hundreds  of  thousands.  The  Domini- 
cans had  already  gathered  in  thousands  of  converts  on 
the  West  shore  of  Africa,  The  Franciscans,  Domini- 
cans, Augustines  and  Jesuits  made  vast  numbers  of 
converts  in  Mexico,  Central  and  South  America;  and 
considerable  numbers  in  the  territory  now  covered  by 
the  United  States  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  But, 
partly  owing  to  the  indifferent  character  of  the  races, 
and  partly  owing  to  insufficient  instruction  carried  by 
this  Church  which  makes  so  much  of  sacraments  and 
priestly  mediation,  these  converts  have  not  developed 
strong  self-propagating  Churches.  Rome  has  suffered 
leakages  too,  so  that  notwithstanding  her  missionary 
work  the  entire  Roman  Catholic  population  of  the 
globe  to-day  amounts  only  to  about  231,000,000. 

This  may  appear  to  some  a  considerable  gain  in 
view  of  the  Protestant  exedous  at  the  Reformation  and 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  much  of  the  mission  effort 
has  been  amongst  peoples  difficult  to  impress  on  the 
one  hand  and  unstable  on  the  other.     But  the  rate  of 


Modern  Romish  Missions  127 

gain  has  been  very  slow,  if  compared  with  that  in  the 
apostoHc  and  ante-Nicene  ages;  for  Rome  controlled 
not  less'  than  100,000,000  men,  women  and  children  in 
the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century.  To  have  in- 
creased by  only  130  per  cent,  of  itself  in  these  four 
hundred  years,  argues  a  very  small  yearly  growth,  an 
average  yearly  growth  of  less  than  1-3  of  i  per  cent, 
of  the  number  with  which  this  Church  entered  the 
sixteenth  century.  Such  a  rate  of  growth  argues  no 
providential  approval  of  the  substitution  of  Mediaeval 
principles  of  Church  propagation  for  those  set  forth  in 
New  Testament. 

VIII.  The  territories  overrun  in  the  imperfect  man- 
ner heretofore  described,  include  all  the  more  habitable 
portions  of  North  and  South  America,  large  portions 
ot  Africa,  of  Eastern  and  Northeastern  Asia,  and  large 
portions  of  European  Protestant  territories.  The 
Romish  Church  now  numbers  amongst  its  members 
people  of  almost  all  races,  nations  and  tribes.  It  is 
huge  in  territory  loosely  occupied.  It  outranks  in 
point  of  numbers  every  other  Christian  sect,  counting 
as  it  does  all  whom  it  baptizes  as  members. 


LECTURE  VII. 

The  Attitude  of  the  Protestant  and  Reformed 
Churches  toward  Missions,  1517-1781. 

In  the  treatment  of  this  subject  it  has  been  found 
convenient  to  divide  the  period  at  the  year  1648;  and  to 
treat  of  the  sub-divisions,  1517  to  1648  and  1648  to  1781, 
in  order. 

I.  Accordingly,  we  take  up,  first,  the  relation  of  the 
Protestant  and  Reformed  Churches  to  missions,  15 17  to 
1648. 

The  great  reformers,  Luther  and  Calvin  and  their  co- 
laborers  carried  their  followers  back  so  far  toward  the 
theory  of  Christianity  which  prevailed  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment age  that  were  able  to  disapprove  of  false 
aims,  instruments  and  methods  employed  by  the  Church 
of  Rome  in  its  missionary  endeavor ;  and  so  far  that  when 
their  theory,  by  unessential  but  important  modifications, 
in  a  subsequent  period,  had  been  conformed  still  more 
closely  to  the  New  Testament  view,  it  was  followed  by  a 
missionary  period  in  character  closely  resembling  in  all 
fundamental  respects  the  apostolic  missionary  period. 

In  annihilating  the  doctrines  of  salvation  by  work, 
the  special  priesthood,  the  efficiency  of  the  sacraments 
ex  opere  opcrato ;  and  in  establishing  the  doctrine  of  jus- 
tification by  faith,  the  doctrine  of  the  universal  spiritual 
priesthood  of  all  believers,  the  doctrine  that  the  reception 
of  good  from  the  sacraments  was  dependent  on  their  re- 
ception by  a  true  faith,  and  in  making  the  Scriptures  to 
be  the  sole  source  of  authority  in  religion,  the  reformers 


Protestant  and  Reformed  Churches         129 

were  conditioning  a  grasp  of  the  true  aim  of  missions, 
and  were  doing  much  to  insure,  when  the  teachings  of 
Scripture  about  the  Church  should  be  more  fully  compre- 
hended, the  recognition  of  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  be 
missionary.  They  were  also  doing  much  to  lead  the 
Church  back  to  the  God-given  principles,  instruments, 
and  methods  of  missions.  But  these  heroes  of  the  faith 
fumbled  in  their  attempts  to  set  forth  adequately  the 
Scriptural  doctrines  concerning  the  Church,  particularly 
in  regard  to  its  rightful  independence  of  the  state,  and 
in  regard  to  the  relation  in  which  it  stood  to  the  great 
commission,  given  by  our  Lord  to  the  Church  as  repre- 
sented by  the  Apostles,  to  make  disciples'  of  all  nations ; 
they  erred  also  in  their  theory  of  Christian  eschatology. 
And,  notwithstanding  the  immensely  more  Biblical  theory 
of  Christianity  introduced  by  the  Reformers  into  the 
spheres  of  their  influence,  their  imperfect  doctrine  of  the 
Church  and  their  imperfect  doctrine  of  last  things,*  as 
will  appear,  rendered  them  non-missionary  save  as 
against  Romanism,  for  a  hundred  years  after  the  Reform- 
ation, and  has  exerted  a  crippling  influence  on  them  down 
to  this  day. 

The  Reformation  fell  in  the  most  magnificent  age 
of  discovery,  when  a  vast  number  of  peoples  were  brought 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  European  Christians.  The  Roman 
Catholic  Church  by  these  discoveries  was  excited  to  un- 
wonted missionary  efforts.  The  Protestants  not  only 
made  little  foreign  mission  effort,  during  the  entire 
Reformation  period,  15 17  to  1648,  they  showed  little 
sense  of  an  obligation  on  the  Christian  Church  to  do  so, 
the  way  being  opened.    Their  making  little  effort  to  give 

*  This  is  more  particularly  true  of  Luther. 


130       •  Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

the  heathen  the  Gospel  has  been  explained,  "and  must  be 
excused,"  in  part,  by  the  consideration  that  immediate 
intercourse  with  the  heathen  nations  was  not  had  by  the 
Protestants  during  this  period,  save  in  the  case  of  the 
Dutch  and  English  as  the  period  wore  toward  its  close. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation,  the  Spaniards  and 
Portuguese  had  the  control  of  the  seas  and  were  taking 
possession  of  the  newly-discovered  islands  and  contin- 
ents. No  way  was'  then  open  to  the  Protestants  ^nto 
the  newly-discovered  lands.  Had  they  been  desirous  of 
sending  missionaries  in  to  those  regions,  they  would  not 
have  been  permitted  to  do  so. 

Their  making  little  effort  to  give  the  heathen  the 
Gospel  has  been  further  explained  and  excused  by  the 
consideration  that  "the  battle  against  heathenism  within 
the  old  Christendom,  the  struggle  for  their  own  existence 
against  Papal  and  worldly  power,  and  the  necessity  of 
self-consolidation,  summoned  them  primarily  to  a  work  of 
consolidation  at  home  which  claimed  all  the  energy  of 
young  Protestantism."  They,  it  must  be  allowed,  had 
their  hands  full  in  the  effort  to  maintain  and  spread  the 
evangel  amongst  European  peoples,  in  the  face  of  the 
combined  and  aggressive  opposition  of  the  Papacy  and 
the  empire. 

The  leading  reformers  not  only  did  not  attempt  mis- 
sionary movements,  they  failed  to  apprehend  the  abiding 
missionary  obligation  of  the  Church  as  set  forth  in  the 
Scriptures.  Luther  held  that  the  obligation  to  universal 
missions  rested  on  the  Apostles  alone;  that  such  work 
had  been  practically  done  long  before  his  age ;  that  no  one 
in  his  day  lay  under  the  burden  of  such  work,  but  that 
"each  bishop  and  pastor  had  his  appointed  diocese  or 
parish."    He  held  also  "that  the  end  of  the  world  was  at 


Protestant  and  Reformed  Churches         131 

hand,  that  the  signs  of  the  nearness  of  the  last  day  were 
apparent,  Antichrist  in  the  Papacy,  Gog  and  Magog  in 
the  Turks,  so  that  no  time  remained  for  the  further  de- 
velopment and  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on 
earth."  He  considered  the  Turks  to  be  the  obdurate 
enemies  in  the  last  time  by  whom  God  visits  Christendom 
for  its  sins.  He  looked  upon  the  "heathen  and  Jews 
as  having  fallen  under  the  dominion  of  the  devil — and 
that,  too,  not  without  their  own  fault."  Melancthon  ex- 
pressed some  of  the  same  views  in  more  dogmatic  form. 
"It  was  the  general  view,  shared  by  both  Luther  and 
Melancthon,  that  the  whole  course  of  this  world  was 
divided  into  three  periods  of  2,000  years,  and  that  the 
third  2,000  years  beginning  from  Christ  would  be  short- 
ened, so  that  in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  some 
time  in  the  year  1558,  the  last  day  would  come."  These 
views,  and  especially  this  eschatological  position  of  these 
Lutheran  reformers,  "resting  on  their  whole  conception 
of  history,  when  taken  in  connection  with  the  fact  that 
the  heathen  world  of  their  time  lay  quite  beyond  their 
sphere  of  vision,  clearly  explain  how  we  find  in  them  no 
proper  missionary  ideas." 

In  the  case  of  Martin  Bucer  we  find  a  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  the  evangelization  of  the  world  had  not  been 
completed;  and  the  view  that  God  is  looking  after  these 
heathen  nations  and  will  call  and  send  other  "apostles"  to 
them ;  but  no  perception  of  a  duty  resting  on  the  Church 
to  be  missionary  and  to  send  out  representatives  to  the 
heathen  world. 

The  views  of  Luther  and  Melancthon  continued  to 
influence  their  communion  throughout  their  century  and 
beyond. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 


132         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

disturbed  political  conditions  of  Germany,  and  especially 
the  Thirty  Years'  War,  were  unfavorable  to  the  prosecu- 
tion of  missionary  enterprise.  Here  again,  however,  we 
not  only  find  no  mission  work,  we  find  little  sense  of  obli- 
gation to  it.  This  was  owing  chiefly  to  the  continued 
prevalence  of  the  views  of  Luther  and  Melancthon  on 
the  subject.  It  was  held  that  the  missionary  commission 
was  given  to  the  Apostles  alone,  and  that  they  had  pro- 
claimed the  Gospel  to  the  whole  world;  and  the  extra- 
ordinary functions  of  the  Apostles  were  magnified  and 
inferences  drawn  from  this  that  the  Church  had  "no  call 
to  missions  to  the  heathen  and  no  authority  to  impart 
such  a  call."  Such  views  were  set  forth  by  Joh.  Gerhard, 
the  great  dogmatic  theologian  of  Jena,  who  died  in  1637. 
He  attempted  to  demonstrate  historically  the  alleged  uni- 
versal extension  of  Christianity  in  the  past,  to  demon- 
strate from  Scriptural  teaching  that  the  obligation  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  the  whole  world  ceased  with  the 
Apostles ;  and  to  refute  as  absurd  all  the  pleas  that  might 
be  adduced  in  favor  of  a  continuous  missionary  obliga- 
tion upon  the  part  of  the  Church. 

Such  being  the  prevailing  views,  naturally  there  could 
be  no  general  sense  of  obligations  to  missions  in  the 
Lutheran  Communion.  There  were,  indeed,  men  in  the 
body,  between  1600  and  1648,  with  more  or  less'  light 
on  the  subject.  An  occasional  leader,  while  not  recog- 
nizing a  duty  as  resting  on  the  Church  to  send  out  mis- 
sionaries, yet  laid  upon  such  Christian  rulers  as  possessed 
heathen  territories  the  duty  of  Christianizing  them. 
Other  theologians  admitted  in  principle  the  missionary 
duty  of  the  Church,  while  deeming  the  times  and  oppor- 
tunities unsuitable  to  the  practical  discharge  of  it.  Still 
others  were  found,  here  and  there,  who  affirmed  that 


Protestant  and  Reformed  Churches         133 

missions  are  of  right  the  business  of  the  Church.  These 
men,  for  the  most  part,  raised  their  voices  to  complain 
of  "the  lack  of  the  missionary  understanding;  or  to  re- 
mind the  civil  authorities  of  their  missionary  duties ;  but 
buch  voices  Avere  very  feeble,  and  as  they  wanted  prac- 
tical point,  they  died  away  almost  altogether  unheard." 

It  is  not  impossible  that  the  one-sided  and  legal  stress 
which  orthodox  Lutheranism  was'  at  this  time  laying  on 
the  doctrines  of  grace,  and  its  failure  to  emphasize  the 
duty  of  serving  God  which  is  involved  in  the  acceptance 
of  divine  grace,  checked  energetic  Christian  living  and 
activities, — checked,  amongst  them,  all  tendencies  toward 
a  missionary  ideal.  However  this  may  be,  we  shall  see 
that  the  rise  of  this  ideal  is  connected  historically  with 
a  rise  in  godly  living. 

During  all  this  Reformation  period  the  Lutheran 
Church  was  practically  non-missionary  so  far  as  the 
heathen  world  was  concerned. 

In  1559,  Gustavus  Vasa,  King  of  Sweden,  made  an 
effort  to  incorporate  into  the  evangelical  Church  the 
Lapps,  who  dwelt  in  the  northern  part  of  his  kingdom. 
Since  the  twelfth  century  they  had  been  nominally 
Catholic  Christians ;  but  in  reality  they  had  remained 
heathen.  Gustavus's  attempt,  unsuccessful  because  his 
missionaries  were  unsuited  to  the  work,  has  been  called 
missionary,  but  it  was  rather  a  reforming  act  of  terri- 
torial Church  authority. 

Calvin  did  not  hold  that  the  world  had  been  evan- 
gelized through  the  Apostles.  On  the  other  hand,  while 
holding  that  the  apostolate  was  an  extraordinary  office 
and  has  not  been  perpetuated,  he  taught  that  the  exten- 
sion of  Christianity  is  still  in  progress.  His  grasp  of 
Christianity  was,  so  far,  better  than  Luther's,  but  he  did 


134         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

not  teach  that  an  obhgation  rests  upon  the  Church  to 
carry  the  Gospel  to  all  nations.  He  does  not  deny  it  even 
by  implication,  but  neither  does  he  teach  it.  He  did, 
however,  teach  "that  the  Christian  magistracy  has  the 
duty  of  introducing  the  true  religion  into  a  still  unbe- 
lieving land," — a  view  which,  as  has  appeared,  was,  at 
a  later  time,  developed  among  the  Lutherans. 

A  promise  of  better  things  is  seen  in  the  text  on  the 
title  page  of  the  first  printed  and  official  edition  of  the 
Scottish  Confession,  presented  by  the  committee  of  which 
John  Knox  was'  a  member,  to  the  Parliament  in  1560: 
"And  this  glad  tidings  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached 
throughout  the  whole  world  for  a  witness  to  all  nations ; 
and  then  shall  the  end  come."  The  promise  was  re- 
peated in  the  prayer  with  which  this  confession  closes : 
"Arise,  O  Lord,  and  let  Thine  enemies  be  confounded : 
let  them  flee  before  Thy  presence  that  hate  Thy  godly 
name.  Give  Thy  servants  strength  to  speak  Thy  word 
in  boldness;  and  let  all  nations'  attain  to  Thy  true 
knowledge." 

Adrian  Savaria,  born  1531,  for  a  time  Reformed 
pastor  in  Antwerp,  from  1582  to  1587  preacher  and  pro- 
fessor in  Leyden,  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England 
after  1587,  when  for  political  reasons  he  had  removed 
thither,  published  a  treatise  in  1590,  the  purpose  of  which 
was  to  vindicate  the  Episcopal  office  in  Church  constitu- 
tion. He  contended  that  the  Episcopal  office  was  needed 
for  the  maintenance  and  strengthening  of  existing 
Churches  and  for  the  planting  of  new  ones.  In  this  con- 
nection he  found  occasion  to  speak  of  missions';  and 
shows'  that  the  Apostles  themselves  could  only  have  car- 
ried out  the  missionary  command  in  a  very  limited  meas- 
ure; and  that  this  command  applied  not  merely  to  them 


Protestant  and  Reformed  Churches         135 

personally  but  to  the  whole  Church  which  they  repre- 
sented. But  this  correct  view  of  the  missionary  com- 
mand produced  no  effect  upon  his  Protestant  contem- 
poraries ;  in  part,  it  may  be  supposed,  because  they  were 
not  in  close  touch  with  the  heathen,  and,  in  part,  because 
his  exposition  of  the  command  was  coupled  with  a  fight 
over  Church  polity. 

The  theory  as  to  the  obligation  of  Christian  civil 
governments  to  extend  Christianity  into  their  unbelieving 
territories  found  practical  expression  about  1555,  when 
a  number  of  Frenchmen  of  the  Reformed  creed  went  to 
Brazil  to  found  a  colony,  which  should  also  be  an  asylum 
of  their  persecuted  brethren  at  home.  The  project  was 
encouraged  by  Admiral  Coligny.  Calvin  was  appealed  to 
for  pious  Christians  and  preachers,  that  they  might  exert 
a  good  influence  upon  the  colonists  and  declare  the  Gospel 
to  the  heathen.  Four  preachers  and  a  number  of  other 
persons'  of  the  Reformed  faith  were  sent  out  from 
Geneva.  But  the  enterprise  had  been  placed  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  unprincipled  Durand  de  Ville- 
gagnon.  He  had  become  Reformed  at  a  moment  when 
fortune  seemed  to  be  on  the  side  of  the  Protestants.  But 
upon  the  rise  of  Roman  Catholicism  to  commanding  and 
merciless  dominance,  he  treated  all  the  Protestants  in  the 
colony  as  traitors  and  banished  them  from  the  colony. 
The  majority  of  them  made  their  way  back  to  France 
amidst  the  greatest  hardships.  On  some  who  were  un- 
willing to  trust  themselves  to  the  leaking  vessels  on 
which  these  exiles  must  cross  the  ocean,  Villegagnon  did 
capital  execution.  One  of  the  clergymen,  Richier,  a  few 
weeks  after  arriving  in  Brazil,  had  written  that  "they 
had  purposed  to  win  the  native  heathen  for  Christ,  but 
that  their  barbarism,   their  cannibalism,   their   spiritual 


136         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

dullness,  etc.,  extinguished  their  hope."  The  enterprise, 
on  its  most  favorable,  sober  interpretation,  hardly 
amounted  to  more  than  a  fruitless  episode  in  the  Re- 
formed movement  as  inspired  by  John  Calvin.  It  was 
at  bottom  neither  more  nor  less  distinctly  missionary  than 
Calvin's  theory  of  Church-State. 

Calvinists  found  scope  for  similar  enterprises  under 
more  favorable  conditions  after  the  opening  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  About  this  time  the  Dutch  and  British 
began  to  divide  the  dominion  of  the  sea  with  Spain  and 
Portugal, — began  that  career  which  was  to  make  them 
the  lords  of  wide-spreading  domains ;  and,  in  part,  at 
the  expense  of  these  same  Spaniards  and  Portuguese. 
The  Dutch,  having  emancipated  themselves  from  the 
Spanish  yoke,  drove  the  Portuguese  from  much  of  their 
East  Indian  possessions  and  in  a  few  years  founded  a 
considerable  colonial  empire  in  the  Moluccas,  Ceylon, 
Formosa,  and  the  great  Malaysian  islands'.  The  Dutch 
Church  had  a  noble  opportunity  which  it  might  have 
used  had  it  not  been  for  the  theory  as  to  the  proper  re- 
lation of  Church  and  State  which  obtained  and  the  prac- 
tical application  of  that  theory,  resulting  in  enervation 
of  the  Church.  It  regarded  the  work  of  missions  as  a 
duty  resting  on  the  colonial  government.  This  was  natu- 
ral, since  it  was  regarded  as'  proper  that  the  State  should 
support  the  Church  at  home.  Accordingly  the  East  India 
Company,  founded  in  1602,  was  bound  by  its  state  charter 
to  care  for  the  planting  of  the  Church  and  the  conversion 
of  the  heathen  in  the  newly  won  territory.  This  com- 
pany very  early  began  missionary  work, — ^before  there 
had  been  any  Dutch  Protestant  missionary  literature.  Its 
missionaries  had  to  undertake  both  the  spiritual  care  of 
the  European  colonial  officials  and  the  conversion  and 


Protestant  and  Reformed  Churches         137 

training  of  the  heathen.  At  first  the  missionaries  were 
untrammeled,  but  in  the  course  of  time  they  were  made 
too  much  a  part  of  the  pohtical  machinery  of  government. 
At  first  its  missionaries  were  devoted  to  mission  work; 
but  the  Company  developed  a  concern  that  their  mission- 
aries should  give  less  attention  to  this  work.  The  Dutch 
Church  urged  upon  the  Company  the  importance  and  the 
duty  of  pressing  the  work;  but  it  never  occurred  to  it 
to  push  mission  work  in  these  territories  out  of  its  own 
funds;  and  the  majority  of  its  clergy  showed  little  dis- 
position to  missionary  work.  If  laudable  aims,  prin- 
ciples, instruments  and  methods  characterize  this  effort 
in  its  earlier  stages,  these  were  not  sufficiently  maintained 
as  time  went  on.  There  came  to  be  too  little  preaching 
in  the  native  tongue,  too  little  Bible  translation,  too  little 
education  of  native  helpers  in  school  and  Church.  A 
sham-Christianization  of  the  natives  went  on.  "Use  was 
made  of  all  kinds  of  pressure,"  inducements  of  outward 
advantage,  physical  force,  prohibition  of  heathen  customs. 
Thousands  were  received  into  the  Church,  by  baptism, 
without  any  considerable  instruction.  The  evil  virus 
of  the  union  of  Church  and  State  kept  the  Dutch  Church 
from  a  theoretical  recognition  of  its  own  obligation  to 
missions',  and  introduced  into  the  mission  work  of  the 
civil  power  maxims  and  practices  and  instrumentalities 
foreign  to  the  true  character  of  the  Church. 

The  Dutch  West  India  Company  attempted  mission 
work  in  Brazil ;  but  the  early  resignation  of  a  mission- 
ary governor  and  the  short  life  of  the  colony  rendered 
it  of  no  importance. 

England's  mastery  of  the  sea  began  with  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Spanish  Armada.  1588.  Political  and  reli- 
gious struggles  between  parties  in  the  liome  land  hin- 


138         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

dered  the  rise  of  the  missionary  spirit  for  a  time;  but 
stimulated  the  founding  of  colonies  in  North  America; 
and  thus  indirectly  led  to  interesting  endeavors  in  behalf 
of  American  Indians  contiguous  to  the  early  British  col- 
onies. The  struggles  occasioned  the  large  Puritan  emi- 
gration from  1620  on.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  "adopted 
the  conversion  of  the  native  heathen  into  their  colonial 
programme."  A  quarter  of  a  century  elapsed,  however, 
before  the  beginning  of  real  missionary  work  among  the 
Indians ;  and  meanwhile  much  blood  had  been  shed ; 
though  the  Puritans  had  in  the  main  dealt  fairly  with 
the  Indians  at  the  outset,  their  treacherous  fears  had 
been  excited  by  occasional  ill-treatment,  "mainly  at  the 
hands  of  other  settlers,"  and  they  fell  to  perpetrating 
great  atrocities  against  the  colonists,  who,  moved  by  a 
sense  of  their  perilous  situation  and  of  the  base  char- 
acter of  the  savages,  slaughtered  them  in  great  numbers. 
But  alongside  this  conflict,  a  noble  missionary  work 
was  in  progress.  John  Eliot  was  born  in  1604,  of  parents 
by  whom,  to  use  his  own  words,  "his  first  years  were 
seasoned  with  the  fear  of  God,  the  word  and  prayer." 
He  was  educated  with  unusual  thoroughness,  particularly 
in  the  languages,  at  Cambridge.  Having,  in  the  course  of 
time,  decided  to  devote  himself  to  the  ministry,  and  being 
a  non-conformist,  he  came  to  America  to  escape  the 
tyranny  of  Laud.  He  had  promised  some  of  his  brethren 
who  thought  of  coming  to  America  that  if  they  came  he 
would  be  their  pastor.  On  his  arrival,  163 1,  he  supplied 
for  a  time  the  Boston  Church.  In  1632,  the  brethren  who 
had  exacted  the  promise,  came  over  and  settled  at  Rox- 
bury.  Mr.  Eliot  at  once  became  their  pastor  and  con- 
tinued in  the  relation  sixty  years.  Soon  after  settling 
in  Roxbury,  he  became  deeply  interested  in  the  Indians, 


Protestant  and  Reformed  Churches         139 

and  resolved  to  learn  their  language  that  he  might  preach 
to  them.  He  soon  became  able  to  translate  the  ten  com- 
mandments, the  Lord's  Prayer,  some  texts  of  Scripture, 
and  a  few  prayers.  He  was  able  to  begin  his  preaching 
visits  to  the  Indian  camps  as  early  as  October,  1646.  He 
rapidly  gained  in  influence  amongst  the  Indians.  Wish- 
ing to  civilize  as  well  as  Christianize  them,  he  gathered 
those  who  were  disposed  to  follow  him  into  a  community 
on  their  old  camping  ground,  about  five  miles  from  Bos- 
ton, and  called  the  place  Nonantum.  He  drew  them  with 
great  tact  and  skill  toward  a  civilized  life.  A  civil  ad- 
ministration was  founded.  The  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts founded  a  court  for  them  over  which  an  English 
magistrate  presided.  Native  religious  workers  were 
trained  also.  Several  Sachems  within  a  radius  of  sixty 
miles  from  Roxbury  besought  Eliot's  services  in  rapid 
succession.  He  responded  as  he  could  to  their  calls 
amidst  great  hardships.  In  1648,  Christians  in  England 
were  so  stirred  that  "about  seventy  English  and  Scotch 
clergymen,  mostly  Presbyterians"  united  in  a  petition  to 
the  "Long  Parliament,"  that  something  might  be  done 
for  the  "extension  of  the  Gospel  in  America  and  the 
West  Indies."  This  evoked  from  the  Long  Parliament  a 
manifesto  in  favor  of  missions,  which  was  to  be  read  in 
all  the  Churches  of  the  land,  and  which  called  for  con- 
tributions to  foreign  missions.  In  the  next  year,  1649, 
the  Parliament  incorporated  "The  Society  for  the  Pro- 
pagation of  the  Gospel  in  New  England."  This  society 
sent  Eliot  fifty  pounds  per  annum  to  supplement  his 
salary. 

He  had  long  desired  to  gather  his  converts  at  one 
place.  With  his  desire  they  sympathized.  Generous  aid 
from  England  and  the  colonial  government  enabled  him 


I40         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

to  carry  out  this  desire  in  1650.  A  site  was  chosen  on 
the  Charles  River,  eighteen  miles  from  Boston,  and  a 
tract  of  6,000  acres  set  apart  and  named  Natick.  With 
the  exception  of  one  tribe,  all  the  praying  Indians  were 
gathered  here.  He  now  began  to  train  native  preachers 
and  teachers.  In  1660,  he  formed  the  converts  into  a 
Church.  Meanwhile,  converts  in  other  quarters'  had  been 
won.  As  they  could  not  be  carried  to  Natick,  no  less 
than  thirteen  other  towns  of  praying  Indians  were 
formed.  In  1674,  he  had  under  his  immediate  care  1,100 
converts.  In  King  Philip  's  War  they  suffered  from  both 
Indians  and  whites. 

In  this  great  work  he  had  been  moved  by  ( i )  a  desire 
to  glorify  God  in  the  conversion  of  some  of  these  poor 
souls;  (2)  love  for  them  as  blind  and  ignorant  men;  and 
(3)  a  sense  of  duty  to  fulfill  the  promise  given  in  the 
royal  charter  of  the  colony.  He  had  done  his  work 
largely  in  accordance  with  the  Bible  principles,  and  by 
the  simple  use  of  God's  word,  preached,  lived  and  trans- 
lated into  the  Indian  tongue.  A  most  important  part 
of  his  work  was  the  translation  of  the  Bible,  which  he 
was  enabled  to  publish  by  the  aid  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  New  England,  the-  New 
Testament,  in  1661,  and  the  Old  Testament  in  1663.  He 
also  translated  and  composed  other  works'  of  value  in  the 
interest  of  his  converts.  He  set  others  to  doing  similar 
missionary  work, — notably  the  Mayhews  throughout 
four  generations. 

Eliot's  mission  was  closer  to  the  apostolic  ideal  in 
motive,  aim,  principles,  instruments  and  methods  than 
any  other  mission  of  the  period.  It  began  a  voluntary 
mission  by  a  Puritan  minister,  who  had  been  exiled  by 
the  State-Church  of  England;  secured  the  sympathy  of 


Dawn  of  Protestant  Missions  141 

Presbyterian  and  Independent  Puritans  in  England,  who 
appealed  for  personal  contribution  to  support  the  work 
and  organized  a  society  to  further  the  support.  That  is, 
it  began  in  that  part  of  the  Reformed  Church  between 
which  and  the  State  the  connection  was  weakest,  and 
where  the  dependence  for  support  on  the  State  was  least 
keenly  felt.  Naturally,  we  shall  find,  in  the  sequel,  that 
Dissenters,  because  cut  off  from  the  State,  came  more 
easily  and  freely  to  the  full  sense  of  the  missionary  obli- 
gation ;  and,  other  things  being  equal,  took  to  heart  more 
easily  the  apostolic  missionary  ideals.* 

II.  The  Dawn  of  Modern  Missions,  i 648-1 781. 
During  the  first  half  century  of  this  period,  in  the 
Lutheran  world  it  continued  to  be  the  prevailing  view 
that  world-wide  missions  were  a  privilege  of  the  Apostles 
alone;  and  that  in  the  different  ages  of  the  world  since 
the  time  of  Adam,  God  had  been  preached  everywhere. 
Theologians  attempted  to  prove  these  positions  from 
Scripture.  But  it  was  held  that  it  belonged  to  the  civil 
powers,  which  in  any  way  had  come  to  have  non-Chrfs- 
tians  under  their  sway,  to  establish  the  true  religion 
amongst  them,  build  Churches  and  schools  and  appoint 
preachers,  so  that  everywhere  the  true  knowledge  of 
God  should  be  spread.  This  position  was  sometimes 
maintained  by  a  reference  to  the  example  of  the  kings'  of 
Israel. 

How  long  the  theological  leaders  of  Germany  would 
have  maintained  this  wall  of  prejudice  no  man  can  say ; 
but  men  were  coming  forward  from  the  ranks  of  the 
laymen  who  should  lay  trains   for  its  effectual  under 

*  The  quotations  in  this  chapter  are  for  the  most  part  from 
Warneck's  History  of  Protestant  Missions  to  which  I  acknowl- 
edge my  great  indebtedness. 


142         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

mining.  The  first  to  come  forward  was  Baron  Justinian 
von  Weltz.  He  was  actuated  by  two  great  desires :  ( i ) 
One  was  for  the  upHft  of  the  Christian  life,  (2)  The 
other  was  for  a  practical  manifestation  of  that  life  by 
an  effort  to  extend  the  Gospel  to  the  non-Christian  world. 
He  regarded  genuine  Christian  life  and  effort  to  extend 
the  Gospel  universally  as  intimately  related. 

In  1664  he  published  two  pamphlets.  The  first  of 
these  bore  the  title,  "A  Christian  and  Loyal  Exhortation 
to  All  Faithful  Christians  of  the  Augsburg  Confession 
concerning  a  Special  Society,  through  zvhich  with  the 
help  of  God,  our  Evangelical  Religion  may  be  Extended, 
by  Justinian.  Put  into  print  for  notification — (i)  To  all 
evangelical  rulers;  (2)  to  barons  and  nobles;  (3)  to 
doctors,  professors,  and  preachers;  (4)  to  students' 
chiefly  of  theology;  (5)  to  students  also  of  law  and  medi- 
cine; (6)  to  merchants  and  all  hearts  that  love  Jesus." 
The  second  pamphlet  was,  "An  Invitation  to  the  Ap- 
proaching Great  Supper  and  Proposal  for  a  Christian 
Society  of  Jesus  Having  for  its  Object  the  Betterment 
of  Christendom  and  the  Conversion  of  Heathendom  af- 
fectionately set  forth  by  Justinian."  He  laid  these  treat- 
ises before  the  "Body  of  Evangelicals,"  at  the  imperial 
diet  of  Ratisbon,  which  was  charged  with  caring  for  the 
interest  of  Protestants.  But  after  some  discussion  the 
memorial  was  simply  laid  on  the  table.  This  treatment 
evoked  a  third  treatise,  viz. :  "A  Repeated  Loyal  and 
Earnest  Reminder  and  Admonition  to  Undertake  the 
Conversion  of  Unbelieving  Nations.  To  all  Evangelical 
Rulers,  Clergymen  and  Jesus-loving  Hearts,  set  forth  by 
Justinian." 

In  these  treatises  von  Weltz  gives  a  convincing  refu- 
tation of  the  arguments  of  the  theologians  against  prac- 


Dawn  of  Protestant  Missions  143 

tical  mission  work;  and  argues  in  favor  of  such  work: 
(i)  From  the  revealed  "will  of  God  to  help  all  men  and 
bring  them  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  (i  Tim.  ii,  4). 
(2)  From  the  example  of  godly  men,  who  in  every  cen- 
tury since  the  apostolic  age  have,  regardless  of  cost,  ex- 
tended the  Gospel  among  non-Christian  races.  (3)  From 
the  petition  in  the  liturgy  that  God  would  lead  the  erring 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  and  enlarge  his  kingdom; 
and  (4)  from  the  example  of  the  Papists  in  founding 
the  society  De  Propaganda  Fide.  He  asked  the  Church 
such  questions  as  the  following:  "Is  it  right  to  keep  the 
Gospel  to  ourselves  ?  Is  it  right  that  students  of  theology 
should  be  confined  to  home  parishes?  Is  it  right  that 
Christians  should  spend  so  much  on  clothing,  eating  and 
drinking,  and  should  take  no  thought  to  spread  the  Gos- 
pel ?*'  He  sets,  in  the  last  treatise,  "the  high  and  honored 
court  preachers,  venerable  superintendents,  learned  pro- 
fessors," before  the  judgment  seat  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
asks  them,  "Who  gave  you  authority  to  misinterpret  the 
commandment  of  Christ  in  Matthew  xxviii.  ?"  He  urged 
the  establishment  in  every  Protestant  university  of  a 
missionary  college  of  three  professors, — one  of  Oriental 
language,  one  of  methods  of  converting  the  heathen,  and 
one  of  geography,  beginning  with  Paul's  journeys. 

All  his  agitation  was  without  practical  results  in  his 
own  day.  In  disappointment  he  received  consecration, 
laid  aside  his'  title,  and  went  himself  a  missionary  to 
Dutch  Guiana,  there  soon  to  fill  a  lonely  grave. 

The  Germany  of  his  day  found  hopeless  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  evangelizing  the  heathen ;  regarded  the 
heathen  as  "dogs  and  swine,"  and  because  of  having 
failed  to  keep  the  Gospel  which  had  been  preached  to 
them,  outside  the  pale  of  God's  evangelizing  agencies : 


144         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

and  adjudged  von  Weltz  a  "dreamer."  These  views  were 
voiced  by  Joh.  Heinrich  Ursinus,  "superintendent"  of 
Ratisbon,  who  was  appealed  to  for  an  opinion  on  the 
missionary  projects  of  von  Weltz,  by  the  "Body  of  Evan- 
gelicals" at  Ratisbon.  That  an  obligation  rested  on  any 
save  the  civil  power  to  do  any  evangelizing  amongst 
heathen  Ursinus  could  not  see.  But  by  his  agitation  and 
by  his  heroic  example  of  self-sacrifice,  von  Weltz  was  to 
stir  Germany  of  a  later  date.  "Except  a  corn  of  wheat 
fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  it  abideth  alone;  but  if  it 
die  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit."  In  every  generation 
since  his  day  men  have  arisen  in  increasing  numbers  to 
voice  his  desires  in  a  more  or  less  complete  way.  Thus 
we  find  Spener  teaching  that  the  obligation  "rests  on 
the  whole  Church  to  have  care  as  to  how  the  Gospel  shall 
be  preached  in  the  whole  world,  and  thus  may  continually 
be  carried  to  other  places  whither  it  has  not  yet  come 
and  that  to  this  end  no  diligence,  labor,  or  cost  be  spared 
in  such  work  on  behalf  of  the  poor  heathen  and  unbe- 
lievers." We  find  him  mourning  over  the  fact  that  great 
Christian  potentates  show  little  concern  in  the  matter 
and  that  Protestants  are  put  to  shame  by  the  Papists. 
Other  Pietists  voice  still  more  vigorously  their  sense  of 
the  obligation  resting  on  the  Church  to  be  missionary. 
God  stirred  up  the  great  philosopher  Leibnitz,  through 
his'  intercourse  with  Jesuit  missionaries  to  project  the 
sending  of  thoroughly  trained  Lutheran  missionaries  to 
China,  by  way  of  Russia.  These  and  other  projects  of 
the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  fell  to  the 
ground  for  want  of  support;  but  they  were  important 
parts'  of  the  long  agitation  necessary  to  arouse  sleep- 
ing Christendom. 

Pietism  was  now  at  work.     Living,  personal,  prac- 


Dawn  of  Protestant  Missions  145 

tical  Christianity  was  magnified.  Pietism  looked  not  for 
faith  merely  but  for  faith  working  by  love.  Seeking  for 
fruit  fulness  in  good  works,  and  having  its  attention  di- 
rected to  the  non-Christian  world,  it  was  bound  in  time 
to  become  subject  to  the  missionary  call.  The  Pietistic 
movement  issued  in  the  Danish-Halle  Mission  in  1705. 
Francke,  the  great  pietist  of  his  generation,  which  was 
after  that  of  Spener,  did  more  than  any  other  man  of 
the  time,  to  beget  the  missionary  spirit,  find  missionaries', 
and  create  congregations  in  the  fatherland  who  would  by 
their  contributions  support  them.  The  initiative  of  the 
King  of  Denmark  would  have  been  fruitless  without  the 
aid  of  a  Francke.  Overburdened  with  his  work  at  home, 
dependent  for  the  support  of  his  orphanage  and  other 
institutions  on  the  free-will  offering  of  Christians, 
Francke  nevertheless  felt  himself  in  debt  to  the  heathen 
to  give  them  the  Gospel.  He  made  himself  board  of 
managers,  secretary,  apologist  and  everything  that  was 
needed  for  the  mission  cause. 

Under  the  Danish-Halle  auspices  many  noble  mission- 
aries have  gone  out.  Under  them  Ziegenbalg  and  Plut- 
schau  founded  the  famous  Tamil  missions  in  which  much 
good  was  accomplished.  After  some  years'  Plutschau 
was  driven  back  to  Europe.  Ziegenbalg  died  at  the  age 
of  thirty-six,  in  1719,  leaving  "a  complete  Tamil  Bible, 
a  dictionary,  a  mission  seminary  and  schools,"  355  con- 
verts, and  a  great  number  of  catechumens.  Amongst  his 
successors  was  Christian  Friedrich  Schwartz  (1726- 
1789), — a  man  so  noble  in  character  and  achievements 
that  he  deserves  more  than  passing  mention. 

At  twenty  he  left  his  home  for  a  career  which  closed 
with  the  words :  "I  am  now  at  the  brink  of  eternity,  but 
to  this  moment,  I  declare  that  I  do  not  repent  of  having 


146         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

spent  forty-three  years  in  the  service  of  the  Divine  Mas- 
ter. Who  knows'  but  that  God  may  remove  some  of  the 
great  obstacles  to  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  ?  Should 
a  reformation  take  place  among  Europeans,  it  would  no 
doubt  be  the  greatest  blessing  to  this  country."  Owing 
to  the  peace  and  protection  afiforded  him  by  the  British 
East  India  Company,  Schwartz  was  enabled  to  lay  the 
foundations  for  the  native  Church  in  Southern  India, 
which  is  now  said  to  number  half  a  million.  He  estab- 
lished a  scheme  of  Christian  vernacular  schools,  sup- 
ported by  the  Raja,  his  ward,  and  by  the  British  Gov- 
ernment, later  on.  Having  foreseen  the  famine  of  about 
1780,  he  stored  rice  against  the  evil  day,  and  was  a  great 
benefactor  in  that  time  of  want.  It  is  hard  to  name,  in 
all  the  glorious  pages  of  modern  history,  a  man  of  more 
venerable  and  apostolic  character,  or  one  more  in  the 
esteem  of  all  who  knew  him,  whether  heathen  or  Chris- 
tian,— a  fact  mutely  set  forth  at  the  west  end  of  the 
Tan j ore  Fort  Church,  in  Flaxman's'  monument  of 
Schwartz  dying,  with  the  loving  Guericke,  his  faithful 
Christian  friend  and  fellow-laborer,  standing  at  his  head, 
and  the  heathen  but  devoted  Raja  Serfoje  holding  the 
dying  saint's  hand. 

Next  after  the  Danish-Halle  missionary  enterprise 
comes,  in  the  Lutheran  sphere,  that  of  the  Danish  and 
Norwegian  missions  to  the  Lapps  and  to  Greenland,  1716 
to  1 72 1,  and  following. 

It  was  through  the  Moravians,  at  first  a  society  with- 
in the  Lutheran  Church,  that  missions  took  their  most 
decided  step  forward,  prior  to  the  end  of  this  period. 
This  society  seems  to  have  been  prepared  of  the  Lord 
for  missions.  Zinzendorf,  its  early  head,  had  come  as 
a  boy  to  Francke  for  training — had  heard  there  tidings 


-  Dawn  of  Protestant  Missions  147 

of  the  Lord's  cause  throughout  the  earth  as  he  could 
have  heard  them  nowhere  else ;  had  formed  acquaintance 
with  Ziegenbalg  and  other  missionaries;  had  been  fired 
by  Francke's  own  consecration ;  had  early  pledged  himself 
to  the  labor  of  spreading  the  Gospel  throughout  the 
world, — a  pledge  which  it  was  his  pleasure  to  renew  from 
time  to  time.  He  had  an  extraordinary  capacity  for  lead- 
ership, for  impressing  men  with  his  ideals,  his  ambitions, 
and  his  self-sacrifice,  and  inducing  them  to  go  anywhere 
and  endure  any  hardship  at  his  bidding.  Amongst  the 
brethren  who  had  migrated  for  the  sake  of  their  faith 
from  the  land  of  their  nativity  to  Zinzendorf's  estate 
were  men  of  the  stuff  to  make  heroic  missionaries, — men 
ready  to  work  as  slaves  with  negroes  in  order  to  teach 
them, — men  ready  to  brave  the  most  adverse  conditions. 
The  contagion  of  Zinzendorf's  faith  and  consecration 
seized  these  men.  The  missionaries  began  to  go  out  as 
early  as  1732,  following  as  they  supposed  the  openings 
of  Providence ;  and  in  the  next  score  of  years  they 
planted  more  missions  than  all  the  rest  of  Protestantism 
in  its  first  two  centuries';  and  they  have  never  relaxed  in 
their  missionary  zeal  down  to  this  day.  They  have 
planted  and  maintained  missions  on  the  most  forlorn, 
the  most  hopeless  and  the  most  inhospitable  shores  of  all 
the  continents,  and  of  their  numbers  three-fifths  are 
found  on  the  foreign  fields. 

Much  may  be  said  in  dispraise  of  the  character  of 
Moravian  missionary  work,  as  also  of  that  of  the  piet- 
ists. Their  missions  were  small,  they  undertook  too 
many  for  the  force  at  their  command,  they  were  com- 
monly in  the  hands  of  uncultured,  uneducated  and  un- 
trained men.  They  were  in  behalf  of  tribes  often  the 
most  obscure  and  savage,  unfit  material  for  the  noblest 


148         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

types  of  Christians.  Few  of  them  were  in  behalf  of  a 
people  which,  if  won,  would  have  influenced  greatly  the 
rest  of  the  world  for  Christ.  But  after  all  dispraise  has 
been  spoken  it  must  still  be  said  that  the  little  body  of 
Moravians  has  done  a  noble  service  in  the  cause  of  mis- 
sions. It  has  illustrated  the  sympathy  of  Christ  in  it 
for  suffering  man  in  his  most  unlovely  forms.  It  has 
exhibited  a  pure  and  steadfast  devotion  to  the  cause  in 
the  presence  of  an  infidel  world.  In  the  faces  of  the 
great  Churches'  of  the  world,  long  stalking  in  Pharisaic 
pride,  it  went  out  to  the  travellers  fallen  amongst  thieves 
and  did  the  part  of  the  good  Samaritan.  It  became  a 
missionary  centre  without  thought  of  colonial  interest 
and  without  connection  with  political  powers,  from  purely 
religious  motives. 

But  they  had  no  large  following.  Dead  orthodoxy 
was  succeeded  in  Germany  by  the  reign  of  Rationalism, 
which  neither  understood  nor  cared  for  missions. 

In  the  Calvinistic  sphere  less  of  actual  achievement 
is  seen  between  1648  and  1780;  but  the  dawn  of  a 
brighter  morning  is  nevertheless  visible. 

In  Holland,  indeed,  the  first  zeal  of  the  State  Mis- 
sions had  decayed.  They  had  long  been  growing  more 
mechanical.  With  the  coming  of  Rationalism,  mission- 
ary duty  to  the  colonies  was  forgotten,  or  discharged  in 
a  very  external  and  incompetent  fashion  by  colonial 
clergymen.  The  native  congregations'  generally  went  to 
decay.  Mohammedanism  was  increasingly  countenanced 
for  political  reasons;  and  to  the  point  of  intolerance  to 
the  spread  of  Christianity. 

The  British  had  now  come  into  command  of  the  sea 
and  of  colonial  and  other  interests  which  opened  the 
way  for  evangelizing  the  heathen, — particularly  in  North 


Dawn  of  Protestant  Missions  149 

x-\merica,  in  the  East  Indies  and  in  Western  Africa.  But 
England  was  now  wanting  in  pervasive  and  earnest  piety. 
The  overthrow  of  the  Commonwealth  and  the  restoration 
of  the  Stuarts  was  the  occasion  of  an  incoming  flood  of 
immorality  and  infidelity.  Deism  of  three  different 
types — intellectual,  materialistic,  and  skeptical  poured  its 
floods'  of  hostile  literature  from  the  presses.  The  pulpits 
of  the  established  churches  for  the  most  part  altogether 
ceased  to  preach  the  doctrines  of  grace.  They  preached 
ethics  merely  and  in  so  colorless  a  way  that  it  was  diffi- 
cult, according  to  Blackstone,  to  tell  whether  the  ethics, 
were  Confucian,  Mohammedan,  or  Christian.  The  Dis- 
senters were  at  once  infected  with  the  new  philosophical 
views  to  no  small  extent,  and  so  depressed,  that  they  ex- 
erted no  adequate  corrective.  In  Scotland,  though  mat- 
ters were  not  so  bad  as  they  were  in  England,  Moder- 
atism  obtained  large  sway. 

Before  the  British  Christians  could  become  mission- 
ary they  had  to  be  revived.  Toward  the  end  of  the 
fourth  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  revival 
came.  It  came  not  through  the  literary  work  of  those, 
such  as  Bishop  Butler,  who  gave  themselves  to  the  refu- 
tation of  Deism  in  one  or  another  of  its  aspects,  but  by 
a  baptism  from  heaven.  God  raised  up  the  Wesleys, 
Whitefield  and  their  helpers,  taught  them  through  the 
German  Pietists'  and  Moravians;  and  let  them  into  a 
living  experience  of  salvation  and  stirred  through  them, 
in  the  course  of  the  next  half  century,  the  British  and 
American  world — one  of  the  most  beneficent  movements 
of  which  history  gives  an  account.  Thus  the  Church  was 
being  lifted  to  a  pitch  of  piety  necessary  in  order  to 
evangelical  missions'. 

Meanwhile,  as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 


150        Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

century,  the  Quakers  began  to  show  some  degree  of  mis- 
sionary zeal.  Fox  writes  in  his  epistles :  "All  Friends, 
everywhere,  that  have  Indians  or  blacks,  you  are  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  them,  and  other  servants,  if  ye  be  true 
Christians,  for  the  Gospel  of  salvation  was  to  be  preached 
to  every  creature  under  heaven."  About  1661,  several 
of  his  followers  went  on  missions  to  the  East,  but  without 
permanent  results.  A  little  later  William  Penn  tried  to 
secure  the  evangelization  of  the  Indians  in  his  colony. 

In  1701,  "The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,"  was  organized.  It  was  orig- 
inally intended  for  work  in  the  British  colonies  in  North 
America.  It  never  grew  strong  in  the  course  of  this 
period;  but  made  some  converts  amongst  Indians  and 
negroes  in  North  America.  English  Christians  amongst 
whom  Francke's  writings  had  circulated  gave  consider- 
able support  to  Danish-Halle  missionaries. 

In  1709,  there  was  formed  at  Edinburgh  a  "Society 
in  Scotland  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge," 
which  did  some  work  amongst  American  Indians,  after 
1710.  David  Brainherd,  one  of  their  missionaries, 
labored  amongst  the  Delaware  Indians,  in  Pennsylvania, 
between  1742  and  1747.  He  was  an  American  by  birth, 
of  no  great  learning,  and  accomplished  no  wide-spread 
results  on  his  field;  but  he  kept  a  journal  in  which  he 
records  his  mistakes,  shortcomings,  regrets,  along  with 
his  longing  after  God,  and  desires  to  glorify  Him  through 
the  salvation  of  poor  savages.  That  journal  was  edited 
and  the  life  of  its  author  written,  by  Jonathan  Edwards, 
with  the  result  that  Edwards  himself  became  a  mission- 
ary to  the  Indians  at  Stockbridge.  To  these  memoirs, 
Henry  Martin  traced  his  decision  to  become  a  mission- 
ary.   To  them  William  Carey  was'  indebted  for  impulses 


Dawn  of  Protestant  Missions  151 

to  the  choice  of  mission  work  and  for  principles  on  which 
he  behaved  as  a  missionary.  Brainherd,  with  Edwards 
to  present  him,  was  epochal. 

At  his  death  the  English-speaking  people  were  being 
stirred  graciously  by  the  Methodist  revival,  into  a  living 
piety.  They  had  long  ago  come  into  close  political  ann 
commercial  touch  with  the  multitudinous  heathen  peoples. 
Persons  here  and  there  had  come  to  feel  their  personal 
obligation  as  Christians  to  concert  measures  for  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world.  Things  were  converging  toward 
a  new  era.  A  leader  for  that  new  era  would  be  born 
within  a  score  of  years. 

Meantime,  God  had  not  only  been  preparing  a  mis- 
sionary party;  but  had  been  preparing  the  ways  for  that 
party — preparing  highways  for  His  own  movements 
amongst  heathen  peoples.  Many  instances  might  be  given. 
We  shall  present  a  few  such  instances —  that  seen  in  the 
work  of  the  British  East  India  Company,  and  some 
others.  This  company,  under  the  Providence  of  God,  in- 
cidentally aided  in  no  inconsiderable  way  the  cause  of 
missions.  At  first  the  directors'  professed  the  desire  to 
Christianize  the  nations.  They  provided  their  central 
factories  with  chaplains.  Many  of  the  governors  were 
good  Christian  men  and  did  much  to  help  on  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  natives.  Indeed,  most  of  the  governors 
seem  to  have  been  favorable  to  missions,  up  to  1792. 
They  protected  the  Danish-Halle  missionaries,  amongst 
whom  we  have  noticed  Schwartz.  What  the  company 
had  in  this  way  done  for  missions  was  off-set,  however, 
by  the  deportment  of  many  of  its  employees;  and  about 
1790,  the  company  itself  came  to  fear  the  missionary 
enterprise,  lest  it  should,  in  enlightening  and  Christian- 
izing the  people,  injure  its  own  financial  interests.     In 


152         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

the  new  charter  of  1792,  the  followmg  clause  was  re- 
fused: "That  it  is  the  pecuHar  and  bounden  duty  of 
the  British  legislature  to  promote  by  all  just  and  prudent 
means,  the  interest  and  happiness  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  British  dominions  in  India;  and  that  for  these  ends 
such  measures  ought  to  be  adopted  as  may  gradually  tend 
to  their  advancement  in  useful  knowledge,  and  to  tl 
religious  and  moral  comfort."  This  could  not  be  form- 
ally adopted  till  the  charter  of  1813,  and  was  not  carried 
out  practically  till  1833.  For  the  next  forty  years  after 
1792  the  company  was  unfriendly  to  missions.  It  force" 
William  Carey  in  1799  to  find  an  asylum  in  Serampore, 
the  little  settlement  of  Denmark,  and  kept  up  this  spirit 
for  the  next  thirty  years.  It  was  nevertheless  doing, 
under  the  overruling  providence  of  God  and  without 
friendly  intention  on  its  own  part,  much  for  the  cause 
of  missions.  The  real  missionary  influence  of  this  great 
company  was  like  that  of  the  ancient  Roman  empire,  in 
the  early  history  of  the  spread  of  Christianity.  It  res- 
cued from  anarchy  and  reduced  to  order  all  southern 
India.  It  introduced  roads,  commerce,  wealth,  and  it 
aroused  the  conscience  of  Great  Britain  and  Europe  by 
its  very  opposition  to  missions  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  It  thus  worked  under  the  all-ruling 
and  gracious  providence  of  God  just  as  ancient  Rome 
had  done. 

God  had  set  geographical  discoveries  again  in  the 
forefront,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  He  was  to  keep  them  there  for  more  than  one  hun- 
dred years.  Through  them  he  was  to  quicken  more  and 
more  curiosity  about  an  interest  in  the  inhabitants  of  the 
lands  discovered,  and  to  lead  to  missionary  endeavor  in 
their    behalf.      This,    subsequent    history    has    proven; 


Dawn  of  Protestant  Missions  153 

for  as  Livingstone  has  said,  "the  end  of  the  work  of 
geography  has  become  the  beginning  of  missionary 
enterprise." 

With  this  was'  combined  an  age  of  invention.  To 
anticipate,  it  issued  in  new  means  of  communication,  rail- 
ways, steamships,  telegraphic  systems,  bringing  the  world 
down  to  the  dimensions  of  a  neighborhood  by  making  it 
so  easy  to  pass  from  place  to  place.  Moreover,  nations, 
peoples,  and  tribes  of  the  earth  were  beginning  to  come 
together  for  commercial  reasons  as  never  before. 

The  new  conception  of  the  political  rights  and  na- 
tural rights  of  men  was  finding  voice  in  the  struggle  of 
the  American  colonies  for  independence,  and  in  their 
teaching — a  movement  which  God  would  use  to  bring 
His  Church  to  a  clearer  conception  of  the  religious  rights' 
of  the  nations,  and  of  the  right  of  the  heathen  to  the 
Gospel  which  long  back  he  had  commanded  the  Church 
to  give  to  all  the  world. 

At  such  an  epoch  there  was  need  for  a  leader. 


LECTURE  VIII. 

The  Age  of  Voluntary  Missionary   Societies, 
1781-1829. 

William  Carey  was  born  in  Northamptonshire, 
England,  August  17,  1761.  He  was  the  son  of  a 
weaver,  but  at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  was  apprenticed 
to  a  shoemaker  at  Hackleton.  By  baptism  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Established  Church,  but  became  con- 
vinced of  the  Scripturalness  of  Baptist  views  and  con- 
nected himself  with  that  communion  and  became  a 
Baptist  preacher.  After  having  preached  at  Paulers- 
pury,  his  early  home,  and  at  Barton,  he  became,  1786, 
the  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Moulton.  As  the 
congregation  was  very  poor,  to  support  himself,  he 
trmght  school  by  day,  cobbled  shoes  by  night,  and 
preached  on  the  Sabbath  to  his  people.  Having  an  in- 
tense desire  for  education  and  knowledge  notwith- 
standing his  poverty,  he  learned,  before  he  was  thirty- 
one  years  of  age,  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  Dutch,  French, 
and  had  acquired  vast  stores  of  general  knowledge  in 
the  spheres  of  science,  history,  voyages ;  and  had  the 
best  command  of  the  religious  condition  of  the  world 
of  his  day,  of  all  the  men  of  his  century.  Stirred  by 
the  voyages  of  Captain  Cook,  by  Jon.  Edwards' 
Memoirs  of  David  Brainherd,  and  of  God-given  desires 
for  the  salvation  of  the  heathen,  from  about  1781,  when 
only  about  twenty  years  of  age,  he  had  pressed  upon 
all  who  came  within  his  reach,  the  obligation  to  mis- 
sions.    This  year  accordingly,  may  well  be  called  the 


Voluntary  Missionary  Societies  155 

birLli  year  of  modern  missions — a  year  as  significant  in 
its  way  as  the  year  1517  was  in  its  way.  In  1786,  at  a 
conference  of  Baptist  preachers,  he  submitted  as  a 
matter  of  discussion  the  subject:  "Whether  the  com- 
mandment given  to  the  apostles  to  teach  all  nations  in 
all  the  world  must  not  be  recognized  as  binding  on 
us  also,  since  the  great  promise  still  follows  it."  The 
president,  however,  bade  him  to  be  silent,  declaring, 
"You  are  a  miserable  enthusiast  to  propose  such  a 
question.  Nothing  certainly  can  come  to  pass  in  this 
matter  before  a  new  Pentecost  accompanied  by  new 
gifts  of  miracles  and  tongues  promises  success  to  the 
commission  of  Christ  as  in  the  beginning."  Carey 
turned  to  the  press.  He  published,  in  1792,  "An  In- 
quiry into  the  Obligations  of  Christians  to  Use  Means 
for  the  Conversion  of  the  Heathen ;"  a  work  which  was 
to  have  vast  influence.  He  followed  this  by  his  famous 
sermon,  on  Isaiah  liv.  2,  3,  with  the  two  mottoes,  "Ex- 
pect great  things  from  God  and  attempt  great  things 
for  God,"  the  effect  of  which  was  so  profound  that  he 
was  enabled  to  found  "The  Particular  (Calvinistic) 
Baptist  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  Among  the 
Heathen,"  October  2,  1792. 

Carey  had  fixed  his  desires  upon  work  in  Tahiti, 
or  Western  Africa,  but  he  offered  to  go  wherever  the 
Society  might  choose.  The  Society  fixed  upon  India. 
In  June,  1798,  with  Mr.  John  Thomas,  who  had  re- 
sided in  Bengal  and  engaged  in  missionary  work,  Carey 
and  his  family  sailed  for  India.  Owing  to  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  East  India  Company,  the  party  had  been 
forced  to  sail  in  a  foreign  vessel.  They  reached  Cal- 
cutta, November  11,  1793.  Carey  believed  that  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  missionary,  after  receiving  some  help 


156         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

at  first,  to  support  himself.  Accordingly  he  very  soon 
undertook  self-support.  He  undertook  it  too  quickly. 
Before  he  could  reach  the  position  of  self-support,  he 
and  his  family  suffered  the  utmost  privations.  He 
left  Calcutta,  and  walked  fifteen  miles  in  the  sun,  pass- 
ing through  salt  rivers  and  a  large  lake  to  the  Sunder- 
bunds,  a  tract  scantily  populated,  of  inhospitable 
climate,  and  notorious  for  wild  beasts  and  pestilences. 
He  intended  to  support  himself  by  farming  and  to 
teach  the  people.  About  seven  months  had  passed, 
his  heroic  attempts  looked  as  if  they  would  result  in 
death  or  madness,  Mr.  Udney,  a  pious  man  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  East  India  Company,  ofifered  him  the  super- 
intendency  of  his  indigo  factory.  The  position  would 
not  only  give  him  support  for  his  family  and  time  for 
study,  but  a  congregation  of  natives  connected  with 
the  factory.  It  was  situated  at  Mudnabatty  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Malda.  Carey  accepted  the  position ;  and  spent 
five  years  there.  There  he  learned  the  Bengali,  wrote 
a  Bengali  grammar,  and  translated  into  that  tongue 
the  New  Testament.  He  held  daily  religious  services 
with  the  thousand  workmen  in  the  factory,  he 
itinerated  through  the  district,  a  territory  twenty  miles 
square,  a  very  populous  territory.  He  won  some  con- 
verts and  amongst  them  some  of  efifectiveness  as 
Christian  workers.  He  learned  Sanskrit  and  the 
Botany  of  the  region.  He  inspired  other  Europeans 
with  his  own  heroic  spirit  to  become  his  colleagues — 
such  men  as  Marshman  and  Ward ;  and  kindled  a  flame  in 
England  and  our  country  for  mission  work.  In  1799 
in  consequence  of  an  inundation  the  factory  was  closed. 
Being  again  without  means  of  support  and  handi- 
capped   by    the    unfriendliness    of    the    company,    Mr. 


Voluntary  Missionary  Societies  157 

Carey  seized  an  opportunity  then  providentially  given 
to  establish  a  mission  in  the  Danish  sphere  of  Seram- 
pore.  Through  the  publication  of  his  New  Testament 
he  was  brought  prominently  before  the  Marquis  of 
Wellesly,  Governor  General  of  India,  who  appointed 
him  as  Professor  of  Sanskrit,  Bengali,  and  Marathi,  in 
the  newly  established  Fort  William  College,  in  Cal- 
cutta. He  filled  the  position  for  thirty  years.  He  did 
much  to  develop  the  knowledge  of  the  natural  history 
and  botany  of  India.  The  publication  of  the  entire 
Bible  in  Bengali  was  completed  as  early  as  1809.  When 
he  died,  in  1834,  unaided  or  with  the  aid  of  others,  he 
had  made  translations  of  the  Bible  in  whole  or  in  part, 
into  twenty-four  Indian  languages.  The  Serampore 
press,  under  his  oversight,  had  made  the  Bible  acces- 
sible to  above  three  hundred  millions  of  human  beings. 
He  had  prepared  grammars  and  dictionaries  of  Mah- 
ratta,  Sanskrit  and  Bengali.  He  had  assisted  in  the 
establishment  and  maintainance  of  thirty  separate 
large  mission  stations.  He  had  labored  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  Suttee ;  and  seen  it  abolished  in  1829. 

October  7,  1805,  Carey,  Marsham,  and  Ward,  his 
great  fellow-laborers  in  Serampore,  had  drawn  up  and 
signed  a  "Form  of  Agreement  Respecting  the  Great 
Principles  on  which  the  Brethren  of  the  Mission  at  Ser- 
ampore Think  it  their  Duty  to  Act  in  the  Work  of  In- 
structing the  Heathen."  "This  agreement  was  read  pub- 
licly at  every  station,  at  the  three  annual  meetings  on 
first  Lord's  day  in  January,  in  May,  and  in  October." 
These  principles  include  the  following  points : 

"(i)  It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  we  set  an  infinite 
value  on  immortal  souls;  (2)  that  we  gain  all  informa- 
tion of  the  snares  and  delusions  in  which  these  heathen 
are  held;  (3)  that  we  abstain  from  those  things  which 


158        Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

would  increase  their  prejudice  against  the  Gospel;  (4) 
that  we  watch  all  opportunities  of  doing  good;  (5)  that 
we  keep  to  the  example  of  Paul  and  make  the  great  sub- 
ject of  our  preaching  Christ  the  crucified;  (6)  that  the 
natives  should  have  entire  confidence  in  us  and  feel  quite 
at  home  in  our  company;  (7)  that  we  build  up  and  watch 
over  the  souls  that  may  be  gathered;  (8)  that  we  form 
our  native  brethren  to  usefulness,  fostering  every  kind 
of  genius  and  cherishing  every  gift  and  grace  in  them ; 
especially  advising  the  native  churches  to  choose  their 
pastors  and  deacons  from  among  their  own  countrymen ; 
(9)  that  we  labor  with  all  our  might  in  forwarding  trans- 
lations of  the  sacred  Scriptures  in  the  languages  of  India, 
and  that  we  establish  native  free  schools  and  recommend 
these  estabHshments  to  other  Europeans;   (10)  that  we 
be  constant  in  prayer  and  the  cultivation  of  personal  reli- 
gion to  fit  us  for  the  discharge  of  these  laborious  and 
unutterably  important  labors ;  let  us  often  look  at  Brain- 
herd,  in  the  woods"  of  America,  pouring  out  his  very 
soul  before  God  for  the  perishing  heathen  without  whose 
salvation  nothing  could  make  him  happy;   (11)  that  we 
give  ourselves  up  unreservedly  to  this  glorious  cause. 
Let  us  never  think  that  our  time,  our  gifts,  our  strength, 
our  families,  or  even  the  clothes'  that  we  wear,  are  our 
own.     Let  us  sanctify  them  all  to  God  and  his  cause. 
Oh,  that  He  may  sanctify  us  for  His  work!    No  private 
family  ever  enjoyed  a  greater  portion  of  happiness  than 
we  have  done  since  we  have  resolved  to  have  all  things 
in  common.     If  we  are  enabled  to  persevere,  we  m^- 
hope  that  multitudes'  of  converted  souls  will  have  reason 
to  bless  God  to  all  eternity  for  sending  His  Gospel  to 
this  country."  * 

*  Copied  from  George  Smith,  Short  History  of  Missions,  pp. 
166,  167.  ^ 


Voluntary  Missionary  Societies  159 

These  principles  approximate  the  principles  of  the 
Apostolic  Church. 

But  Carey's  great  part  in  the  mission  movement  of 
the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries'  is  not  found  in 
the  number  and  consequence  of  the  converts ;  nor  in  his 
numerous  and  valuable  translations  of  Scripture;  nor 
in  his  other  literary  services;  nor  in  the  eduction  of 
relatively  Bible  principles  for  the  conduct  of  missions; 
but  in  the  arousing  of  Christians  and  groups  of  Chris- 
tians to  a  powerful  sense  of  missionary  obligation  and 
missionary  privilege,  and,  through  these,  and  after  a 
long  period  of  resistance,  the  Churches  of  Christendom 
to  a  similar  sense. 

As  the  Pietistic  and  Moravian  missionary  movement 
had  to  meet  assaults  from  the  orthodox  Churches  of  the 
continent,  so  Carey  and  his'  sympathizers  had  to  run 
counter  to  the  opposition  of  the  Church  authorities  of 
Great  Britain  and  America.  Even  among  the  Baptists, 
to  whose  communion  he  belonged,  the  majority  of  the 
leaders  refused  to  take  any  part  in  missions.  The  Body 
of  Bishops  of  the  Established  Church  were  hardly  will- 
ing for  the  Churches  to  hear  representatives  of  the  mis- 
sion cause.  The  missionary  effort  was  nicknamed  "Meth- 
odism." It  was  thought  to  be  a  species  of  zeal  without 
knowledge.  The  rationalism  dominating  the  government 
of  the  Established  Church  and  affecting  the  theology  of 
all  the  Churches  opposed  the  awakened  life  of  faith,  as 
an  expression  of  arrogant  fanaticism ;  and  missions  as 
extravagant,  foolish  and  hopeless  undertakings.  The  at- 
titude of  the  Established  (Presbyterian)  Church  of  Scot- 
land was  not  different. 

The  ecclesiastic  authorities  holding  this  attitude  of 
opposition,  it  became  necessary  for  the  friends  of  mis'- 


i6o        Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

sion  enterprise  to  form  societies  independent  of  their 
Church  organizations  for  the  prosecution  of  mission  work. 
Such  societies'  were  suggested,  probably,  by  the  Moravian 
and  Methodist  bodies,  which  were  societies  inside  estab- 
Hshed  Churches  during  the  earHer  stages  of  their  respec- 
tive histories'.  It  would  be  hardly  possible  to  theorize 
such  societies  in  a  satisfactory  way,  where  the  Church 
itself  was  awake  to  the  responsibility  resting  on  it  to  be 
missionary.  They  set  themselves  to  doing  the  work 
which  God  laid  upon  His  Church,  the  body  in  covenant 
with  Him.  Their  conduct  is  formal  usurpation  of  the 
functions,  powers  and  prerogatives  of  the  Church.  But 
this  act  of  formal  usurpation  is,  in  spirit,  not  so.  These 
members  are,  as  desiring  to  obey  the  missionary  com- 
mand truer  to  God  and  to  rightful  Church  authority  than 
the  unfaithful  ecclesiastical  powers  that  oppose  them 
and  do  not  the  work  enjoined. 

The  first  great  effect  on  the  Protestant  Christendom 
of  Europe  and  America  produced  by  the  life  of  Mr. 
Carey  in  India  was  seen,  then,  in  the  rise  of  the  numerous 
voluntary  societies  for  the  advancement  of  the  mission- 
ary cause. 

The  London  Missionary  Society,  founded  in  1795, 
was  the  immediate  result  of  Mr.  Carey's  heroic  early 
course  in  India.  Two  out  of  three  of  the  men  who 
brought  about  the  formation  of  this  society  were  inspired 
to  the  undertaking  on  hearing  the  first  letters  of  Carey 
and  Thomas  read  by  Dr.  Ryland,  of  Bristol,  who  had 
invited  them  to  hear  them.  It  was  catholic  in  its  con- 
stitution, and,  in  design,  composed  of  "evangelical  min- 
isters and  lay  brethren  of  all  denominations."  It  was 
largely  assisted  at  the  outset  by  Presbyterians'  and  Epis- 
copalians; but  in  the  course  of  time  has  come  to  be  the 


Voluntary  Missionary  Societies  i6i 

organ  of  the  English  Congregationalists.  It  has  sent 
forth  many  great  missionaries,  pioneers  and  founders: 
Robert  Morrison,  a  son  of  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  elder, 
brought  up  as  a  last  and  boot-tree  maker,  becoming  a 
scholar,  was  sent  to  China,  landing  at  Canton,  September 
7,  1807.  He  labored  under  the  greatest  difficulties  till 
1809,  when  he  was  engaged  as  Chinese  translator  by  the 
East  India  Company,  at  a  salary  of  500  pounds  a  year. 
This  position  gave  him  a  legally  recognized  standing, 
enabled  him  to  go  about  freely,  and  interfered  little  with 
his  great  purpose.  He  compiled  his  grammar  of  the 
Chinese,  and  his  great  dictionary,  and  translated  the 
Scriptures'.  He  thus  gave  weapons  to  the  Protestant  mis- 
sionaries, ready  to  hand,  on  the  breaking  down  of  the 
walls  and  their  admission. 

John  Williams,  apprentice  to  an  ironmonger,  con- 
verted at  the  age  of  eighteen,  self-devoted  to  work  in 
the  South  Seas,  was  sent  out  in  1816,  to  the  South  Sea 
Islands.  Making,  after  a  little,  Raiatea,  the  largest  of 
the  Society  Islands',  his  centre,  he  enjoyed  remarkable 
success  in  Christianizing  and  civilizing  the  people.  In 
1823,  he  instituted  work  in  the  Hervey  Islands,  and  met 
with  similar  success.  In  successive  years  he  explored 
many  groups  of  islands.  He  visited  the  Samoan  Islands 
in  1830,  and  again  in  1832,  when,  under  the  good  hand  of 
God,  he  made  an  amazing  conquest  of  the  people  for 
Christ.  He  perished  at  the  hands'  of  the  savages  of 
Erromanga,  whither  he  had  gone  to  establish  a  mission 
in  1838.  He  had  been  evangelist,  pastor,  teacher,  trans- 
lator, and  civil  adviser  and  setter  of  social  ideals  for  his 
peoples. 

Robert  Moffat,  trained  as'  a  gardener,  but  devoting 
himself  to  the  mission  cause,  was,  after  a  term  spent  in 


i62         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

special  study,  sent  to  South  Africa  in  1817.  He  sounded 
out  the  Gospel,  during  over  fifty  years  of  service, 
throughout  all  South  Africa,  giving  to  peoples  whom  he 
found  in  rankest  savagery  the  entire  Bible  in  their  own 
tongue  which  he  had  turned  into  a  literary  vehicle.  He 
had  developed  in  them  some  power  to  appreciate  the  ways 
of  civilized  life. 

David  Livingstone,  ex-cotton  piecer,  trained  himself 
in  medicine  and  divinity,  and  would  have  gone  as  a  medi- 
cal missionary  to  China;  but  was  sent  to  Africa,  in  1841. 
He  opened  Central  Africa  to  commerce,  division  into 
spheres  of  influence,  civilization  and  Christianity.  The 
greatest  explorer  of  modern  times,  to  all  solicitation  to 
drop  his  missionary  character  he  was  ready  with  the 
answer  that  he  could  be  an  explorer  only  in  a  secondary 
sense.  As  a  pioneer  of  mission  forces  he  would  "do 
geography  by  the  way." 

Through  these  and  a  host  of  men  and  women  less 
well  known,  the  London  Missionary  Society  has  done  a 
great  work,  in  Polynesia,  in  South  Africa,  in  Central 
Africa,  in  North  India,  in  South  India,  in  Travancore, 
in  China,  in  Madagascar,  and  elsewhere.  It  had  in  these 
fields  in  1904,  80,000  communicants,  about  four  times  as 
many  adherents ;  powerful  ,and  efficient  religious  plants 
in  the  most  of  these  fields ;  and  an  income  of  $720,000.00. 

The  next  societies  to  spring  into  being  and  into  work 
were  the  Scottish  missionary  societies, — the  "Edinburgh 
Missionary  Society,"  which  came  into  existence  in  1796, 
and  the  Glasgow  Missionary  Society  of  the  same  date. 
These  were  due  to  Mr.  Carey's  influence  and  to  the  ex- 
ample of  the  men  who  had  established  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society.  They  were  of  a  similar  catholic  con- 
stitution.    The  members  were  in  part  from  the  Estab- 


Voluntary  Missionary  Societies  163 

lished  Church  and  in  part  from  the  secession  churches. 
After  some  fruitless  efforts  elsewhere  the  Edinburgh  So- 
ciety, which  was  known  as  the  "Scottish  Missionary  So- 
ciety," transferred  its  efforts'  to  India,  in  1822— beginnmg 
a  mission  remarkable  for  the  labors  of  Robert  'Nesbit 
and  John  Wilson,  D.  D.  In  1821,  also  after  some  dis- 
appointing enterprises,  the  Glasgow  Society  began  in 
Kafraria  a  mission  which  prospered  greatly  under  the 
Free  and  United  Presbyterian  Churches  of  Scotland,  and 
is  doing  so  now  under  the  control  of  the  United  Free 
Church. 

Both  the  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  societies,  after  the 
Scotch  Church  had  come  to  the  consciousness  of  itself 
as  a  God-ordained  missionary  society,  came  to  think  of 
themselves  as  not  needed  and  as  out  of  place.  Their 
work  was  all  turned  over,  in  the  course  of  some  decades, 
to  the  Church  in  one  or  the  other  of  its  branches. 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  was  founded  under 
the  name  of  the  "Society  for  Missions  to  Africa  and  the 
East,"  in  1799.  It  has  ever  been  the  organ  of  the  noblest 
and  most  catholic  part  of  the  Church  of  England.  It 
has  outgrown  all  the  British  societies.  Among  its  notable 
secretaries  have  been  Thomas  Scott,  the  commentator, 
Josiah  Pratt  and  Henry  Venn.  The  society  waited  four- 
teen years'  for  the  sanction  of  bishops.  Till  1813,  Ger- 
man Lutherans  only  could  be  secured  as  missionaries. 
In  1841,  two  archbiships  and  several  bishops  joined  the 
society.  With  varying  fortunes  the  society  has  grown 
with  the  passing  years.  In  1904,  its  income  was  400,000 
pounds,  or  $1,920,000.00.  The  society's  missions,  be- 
ginning in  West  Africa,  1804,  i"  Madras  in  1814,  and  in 
Calcutta,  in  1820,  extend  around  the  world  and  include 
missions  in  Africa,  in  Palestine,  in  Turkish  Arabia,  in 


164         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

Persia,  in  India,  in  Ceylon,  in  China,  in  Japan,  in  New 
Zealand,  in  Northeast  Canada,  and  in  British  Columbia. 
In  1902  they  had  on  the  roll  of  communicants  79,586. 

The  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society  was  organized  as 
early  as  18 13,  and  soon  afterwards  had  missions  in 
America,  the  West  Indies,  Ceylon,  and,  a  little  later,  in 
South  Africa,  in  South  India,  later  still  in  South  China, 
and  Australia, — many  of  which  have  been  very  fruitful. 
During  the  earlier  stages  this  enterprise  was  in  the  hands 
of  Dr.  Thomas  Coke,  one  of  John  Wesley's  greatest  lieu-' 
tenants,  and  one  who  was  imbued  with  a  missionary  spirit 
as  early  as  Mr.  Carey  himself. 

The  Society  for  the  Propogation  of  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts,  chartered  in  1701,  became  a  distinct  mis- 
sionary agency  as  early  as  1821.  Founded  largely  for 
the  promotion  of  the  Christian  religion  in  "our  foreign 
possessions,"  it  had  been  making  grants  for  some  time 
in  the  support  of  missionary  work.  It  has  continued  to 
combine  the  pastoral  care  of  English  colonists  with  its 
missionary  functions.  It  has  become  the  organ  of  the 
Ritualistic,  or  High  Church  party  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. It  has  branches  in  many  quarters  of  the  earth ;  and 
because  of  its  emphasis  upon  the  Episcopate  and  its  re- 
garding itself  as  the  representative  of  "the  Church,"  it 
has  been  characterized  by  an  absence  of  comity  in  dealing 
with  the  representatives  of  other  Churches  and  societies. 
Its'  arrogance  has  caused  much  confusion,  placed  it  on 
an  unfriendly  footing  with  Protestant  Churches  and  so- 
cieties, and  played  into  the  hands  of  Rome.  Inasmuch 
as  the  society  confuses  in  its  accounts,  its  expenditures, 
etc.,  on  British  colonists  and  on  heathen  peoples,  it  is 
hardly  practicable  to  say  what  the  society  is  doing  for 
distinctly  missionary  work. 


Voluntary  Missionary  Societies  165 

The  erection,  or  use,  of  all  these  British  societies  for 
distinctly  missionary  work  is'  traceable  to  the  influence  of 
William  Carey  more  than  to  that  of  any  other  man.  His 
influence  was  not  apparent  in  Britain  alone.  It  appears 
in  America. 

The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions  was  formed  in  1810.  The  influence  of  Eliot, 
Brainherd  and  Jonathan  Edwards  which  had  affected 
Mr.  Carey,  was  repaid  in  the  influence  of  Mr.  Carey  on 
America.  Adoniram  Judson  and  Samuel  J.  Mills,  stu- 
dents in  divinity  in  Williams  College  and  Andover  Sem- 
inary, started  an  agitation  which  led  to  the  foundation  of 
this  society.  Mills  is  credited  with  having  originated  the 
plan  of  the  American  Board.  This  board  was'  formed 
by  Congregationalists,  it  became  a  joint  agency  of  Con- 
gregationalists  and  Presbyterians  in  1812,  the  Congrega- 
tionalists remaining,  however,  the  dominant  party.  After 
the  separation  between  the  old  and  new  school  people  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
the  board  lost  the  support  of  the  old  school  wing,  and 
on  the  reunion  of  these  parties  in  1870,  the  support  of 
the  new  school  wing.  In  1857,  the  board  had  lost  the 
support  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church ;  in  1858  the  sup- 
port of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church ;  and  in  1865  that 
of  the  German  Reformed;  so  that,  since  1870,  the  Board 
has  practically  represented  Congregationalists  alone.  Ac- 
cording to  its  constitution  it  has  no  ecclesiastical  charac- 
ter, and  no  organic  connection  with  any  Church  or  body 
of  Churches,  and  is  amenable  to  no  authority  except  that 
of  the  Massachusetts'  Legislature,  and  to  that  only  in 
case  of  violating  the  terms  of  its  charter. 

Beginning  with  the  Marathi  Mission  in  Bombay,  in 
1813,  the  board  has  thrown  its  workers'  into  many  parts 


i66         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

of  the  world.  It  has  done  very  notable  work  amongst  the 
the  corrupt  Christian  peoples  of  Turkey ;  in  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  India,  and  China.  As  the  Presbyterian  Churches 
have  withdrawn  from  its  support,  the  board  has  turned 
over  to  them  various  of  its'  missions.  In  1902,  it  received 
an  income  of  $845,105.85,  had  on  its  roll  of  communi- 
cants as  the  fruit  of  mission  effort,  55,645  names,  and 
possessed  fine  plants  consisting  of  churches,  schools,  col- 
-leges,  printing  presses,  and  so  forth. 

The  American  Baptist  Missionary  Society  came  into 
existence  in  1814,  owing  to  the  fact  that  Messrs.  Judson 
and  Rice,  sent  out  by  the  American  Board,  had  changed 
their  views  on  the  mode  of  baptism,  severed  their  con- 
nection with  the  board,  and  were  in  need  of  support;  it 
has  grown  greatly  and  carried  on  with  great  success'  mis- 
sions in  Burmah,  amongst  the  Koreans,  and  amongst  the 
Telugus  of  India ;  it  has  successful  missions'  also  in  Siam 
and  Assam,  in  China,  in  Japan,  and  elsewhere.  It  had 
in  1902,  111,650  converts  in  heathen  lands,  many  schools 
of  various  grades',  two  of  them  being  colleges,  and  seven 
of  them  theological  and  Bible  schools. 

In  addition  to  these  missionary  societies,  William 
Carey's  life  was  one  of  the  great  forces  which  helped 
to  bring  into  being  the  Religious  Tract  Society,  1799,  for 
the  circulation  of  religious  books  and  treatises'  through- 
out the  British  dominions  in  foreign  countries ;  and  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  in  1804,  whose  total 
issues  of  separate  books  of  the  Bible,  entire  New  Testa- 
ments and  entire  Bibles',  in  the  first  ninety-eight  years 
of  its  life  were  175,038,965,  and  whose  great  editorial 
committee  in  the  year  1902,  considered  matters  bearing 
on  versions  of  the  Scripture  in  151  languages  and  dialects  ; 
and  the  American  Bible  Society,   18 16,  which  has  pub- 


Voluntary  Missionary  Societies  167 

lished  the  Bible  in  whole,  or  in  part,  in  more  than  eighty 
languages  and  dialects,  and  whose  total  issues,  in  1902, 
were  1,993,558,  of  which  1,258,909  copies  were  distri- 
buted in  foreign  parts. 

Not  only  these  but  other  missionary  and  subsidiary 
societies  were  formed  between  the  year  of  the  heroic 
venture  of  William  Carey  and  the  end  of  the  first  quarter 
of  the  ninteenth  century.  The  rise  of  these  societies  was 
European  and  American  Protestantism's  response  to  the 
appeal  of  Mr.  Carey  and  his  fellow  laborers  in  behalf  of 
missions,  in  part.  That  which  makes'  his  life  epochal  in 
missions  is  not  so  much  what  he  achieved  on  the  mission 
field,  we  repeat,  but  the  lesson  he  taught  Protestanism — 
the  lesson  of  enterprise,  of  daring,  of  duty,  of  heroic 
faith  which  no  obstacle  could  weaken.  He  was  indeed 
himself  given  in  answer  to  prayer  in  behalf  of  the  mis- 
sionary cause.  For  decades,  here  and  there.  Christians 
had  been  praying  with  increasing  fervor  for  the  salvation 
of  the  heathen.  "As  far  back  as  1744,  some  Scotch  min- 
isters agreed  to  observe  the  first  Tuesday  in  each  month 
as  a  time  of  special  prayer  that  God  would  bless  ?^' 
nations  with  the  light  of  His  glorious  Gospel ;  and  sent 
out  a  memorial  on  continuing  concert  of  prayer  to  this 
end."  "Five  hundred  copies  of  this  memorial  reached 
America,  and  helped  the  life  of  Brainherd  to  fire  the 
heart  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  in  1746,  to  write  his  famous 
essay  on  concert  in  prayer,  for  the  advancement  of 
Christ's  kingdom,"  which  essay,  in  turn,  stirred  the  hearts 
of  English  Baptists,  and  became  one  of  the  factors  that 
moved  Carey  to  offer  himself  as  the  mission  worker. 

Carey  no  more  caused  the  mission  movements'  which 
were  so  closely  connected  with  his  life  than  Luther 
caused  the  Reformation  amongst  the  German  people ;  but 


i68         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

as  Luther  led  and  accelerated  the  one  movement  so  Carey 
led,  accelerated  and  gave  his  own  character  to  early  nine- 
teenth century  Protestant  missions.  In  this  way  he  was 
helping  toward  the  awaking  of  more  than  individuals, 
and  groups  of  individuals  to  a  sense  of  their  responsibility 
to  be  missionary.  If  the  winning  of  religious  toleration 
was  a  preparation  to  the  winning  or  religious  liberty  in 
Virginia,  in  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  days,  so  the 
excitation  into  being  of  great  voluntary  missionary  socie- 
ties was  a  preparation  for  something  much  better  for  the 
awakening  of  the  Churches  of  Christendom  to  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  fact  that  God's  Church  is  the  God- 
ordained  missionary  society,  and  that  every  Christian  in 
virtue  of  his'  Church  membership  is  a  member  of  a  mis- 
sionary society,  and  as  such  is  pledged  to  do  his  utmost 
for  the  disciplining  of  all  nations. 

About  the  time  of  Mr.  Carey's  death  the  Churches 
begin  to  awaken  to  this  conception  of  their  nature, — 
begin  to  see  that  no  Church  which  is  not  at  bottom  mis- 
sionary has  a  right  to  regard  itself  as  having  all  the  im- 
portant marks  of  a  true  Church. 

We  shall  attempt  to  trace  the  further  awakening  of 
Protestant  Christendom  in  the  next  lecture — the  awaken- 
ing of  the  Churches  to  the  consciousness  of  their  mis- 
sionary obligation  as  such. 

From  the  foregoing  account  of  the  Work  of  Mr. 
Carey  and  the  rise  of  the  voluntary  societies',  it  has  ap- 
peared that  missions  sprang  up  in  the  Calvanistic 
Churches  just  among  those  who  had  thrown  out  of  their 
theory  and  practice  the  paralyzing  connection  of  Church 
and  State.  Dissent  had  so  far  a  truer  theoretical  grasp 
of  Christianity;  and  God  honored  dissent  by  giving  to 
Dissenters  and  to  those  in  large  sympathy  with  them, 


Voluntary  Missionary  Societies  169 

to  institute  and  support,  for  the  most  part,  the  mission 
effort  in  Mr.  Carey's  age. 

The  aim  of  the  missionaries  who  followed  in  his' 
train — the  Protestant  missionaries  of  his  age — was  once 
more  as  in  the  apostolic  age,  to  make  spiritual  disciples. 

The  instruments'  used  by  them  were  almost  univer- 
sally the  word — the  word  taught  and  the  word  lived. 
The  Biblical  principles  to  regulate  missionary  effort, 
which  tell  one  upon  whom  to  work,  where  to  work,  how 
to  dispose  the  forces,  in  a  strategic  and  tactical  way,  if 
apprehended,  were  not  generally  applied,  perhaps'  because 
of  the  prevailing  ignorance  of  the  conditions  of  various 
heathen  peoples.  Of  necessity  these  missionaries  had  to 
move  largely  in  the  dark.  They  were  invading  lands 
which  they  had  to  explore  and  report  on  in  order  to  a 
better  planned  effort  by  their  successors.  Hence  fiasco 
enterprises  were  not  infrequent. 

They  early  put  into  application  at  least  on  some  o"" 
the  fields  all  the  Biblical  methods.  The  evangelistic  was 
universal  and  the  literary  was  hardly  less  general.  The 
educational  received  a  tentative  trial  on  some  important 
fields ;  the  missionaries  being  divided  as  to  the  Biblical 
sanction  of  the  method.  The  age  of  modern  medical  mis- 
sions certainly  had  not  yet  come.  Such  missionaries  as 
were  possessed  of  medical  intelligence  and  great  common- 
sense,  occasionally  used  such  knowledge  and  skill  wit)^' 
helpful  effects.  But  such  occasional  services  were  too 
infrequent  and  inconspicuous  to  take  rank  as  a  form  of 
missionary  endeavor. 

The  workers  who  had  gone  out  in  this  period,  1781- 
1729,  were  after  all  not  many. 

They  contained  amongst  them  some  men  of  undoubted 
parts,  many  men  of  heroic  consecration,  and  some  weak 


170  IXTRODUCTIOX    TO    CHRISTIAN'    MISSIONS 

and  unworthy  men.  ]\Iany  of  them  had  insufficient  train- 
ing and  education  for  the  onerous  duties  which  devolved 
upon  them.  ISIany  of  them  were  not  such  men  as  the 
Churches  should  have  sent.  The  Churches  were  not 
sending  men.  Tlte  voluntary  societies  were  sending  such 
as  they  could  get.  Taken  as  a  whole,  though,  they  were 
people  of  common-sense,  pious  and  devoted :  and  with 
them,  that  God  of  all  grace,  whose  prerog-ative  it  is  to 
use  the  weak  to  accomplish  the  mightiest  results,  did 
great  things.  He  was  using  them  to  show  strong  men 
the  wav ;  and  to  awaken  strong  men  and  multitudes  not 
yet  born  to  tlreir  duty  to  a  perishing  heathen  world. 

In  winning  converts,  signal  triumphs  were  occasion- 
ally enjoyed,  as  by  John  Williams  and  his  fellow-workers 
in  the  Society  Islands  and  neighboring  groups.  But 
speaking  generally,  converts  came  in  slowly  and  with 
great  difficulty.  It  has  been  seen  that  the  great  heatlren 
world  was  touched  in  not  a  few  places.  But  it  had  been 
hardly  more  than  touched.  Africa  lay  unexplored  as 
to  its  whole  interior,  in  182Q.  Japan.  China,  and  Korea 
were  tight  shut,  with  Robert  ISIorrison  tolerated  in  Can- 
ton only  because  of  his  mercantile  connections.  Turkey 
was  holding  a  sword  over  the  Ireads'  of  the  intruding 
representatives  of  the  American  Board,  who  had  as  yet 
been  able  to  fix  no  pemianent  station.  Nothing  appar- 
ently worth  while  had  been  done  in  Australia,  no  per- 
manent mark  made.  The  little  white  spots  in  India  and 
Oceanica  could  be  made  to  appear  only  on  large  maps  of 
those  countries.  A  great  providential  movement  had 
begun,  nevertheless. 


LECTURE  IX. 

The  Church   Becoming  Conscious  of   Itself  as  a 
Missionary   Society. 

(1829  to  the  present.) 

To  stir  the  Churches  of  Protestant  Christendom  to 
a  proper  sense  of  their  missionary  obhgations,  was  a 
slow  and  difficult  achievement.  Even  this  was  accomp- 
lished, in  part,  through  the  instrumentality  of  Mr. 
Carey  and  his  helpers,  fellow  missionaries,  and  their 
successors  and  supporters.  "Nothing  succeeds  like 
success."  The  success  of  the  mission  movement  in- 
sured and  brought  about  greater  success.  It  became 
an  effective  instrumentality  in  the  hands  of  the  great 
Head  of  the  Church,  in  awakening  the  Church  to  mis- 
sionary activity.  As  far  back  as  1796,  two  Synods  of 
the  Established  Church  of  Scotland  overturned  the 
General  Assembly  of  that  Church  touching  missions  to 
the  heathen — the  spreading  abroad  of  the  Gospel 
amongst  heathenish  and  barbarous  peoples.  It  was 
proposed  to  appoint  "a  collection  for  missions."  But 
the  measure  met  the  stoutest  opposition.  It  was  con- 
tended that  "to  spread  abroad  the  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel  amongst  barbarous  and  heathen  nations  seems 
to  be  highly  preposterous,  in  so  far  as  philosophy  and 
learning  must  in  the  nature  of  things  take  the  prece- 
dence, and  that  while  there  remains  at  home  a  single 
individual  without  means  of  religious  knowledge,  to 
propagate    it  abroad  would  be  improper  and  absurd." 


172         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

It  was  also  contended  that  the  proposal  to  appoint  a 
collection  for  missions  "would  no  doubt  be  a  subject 
for  legal  prosecution."  There  was  as  yet  no  prevail- 
ing apprehension  that  the  Church  is  missionary  accord- 
ing to  its  divinely  given  constitution.  It  took  long  years 
to  arouse  the  Church  of  Scotland — "the  first  Protestant 
Church  as  such  to  send  out  a  missionary" — to  the  ap- 
prehension of  itself  as  a  missionary  society.  But  this 
was  at  length  done ;  and  Alexander  Duff  was  appointed 
its  first  missionary. 

Dr.  Thomas  Chalmers  and  Dr.  Inglis  had  been  lab- 
oring for  some  years  to  bring  their  Church  to  this  posi- 
tion. Two  sermons  of  Dr.  Chalmers — one  preached 
before  the  Dundee  Missionary  Society,  on  Missionaries 
and  the  Bible — as  "the  two  great  instruments  ap- 
pointed for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel,"  and  pub- 
lished in  1812;  and  the  other  preached  in  1814  before 
the  Scottish  Propagation  Society,  on  "The  Utility  of 
Missions  Ascertained  by  Experience" — followed  by 
Chalmers'  personal  influence  at  St.  Andrews,  are  said 
to  have  sent  Duff  to  India.  Moving  him  to  the  same 
course,  however,  was  the  appeal  of  Dr.  Inglis,  made  to 
the  people  of  Scotland  in  the  name  of  the  Church,  in 
1825. 

The  example  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  illustrated 
and  vindicated  by  tongue,  by  pen  and  by  the  divine 
blessing  on  its  enterprise  has  had  large  influence  over 
other  Churches,  and  particularly  over  those  having 
the  Presbyterian  form  of  government. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  Old  School,  seems  to  have  been  the  second 
Church  to  take  the  view  that  the  Church  itself  is  by 
the  ordination  of  God  a  missionary  society.    Dr.  John 


The  Church  a  Missionary  Society  173 

Holt  Rice  was  one  of  the  men  who,  under  the  hand 
of  God,  did  much  to  arouse  his  Church  to  the  fact  that 
her  missionary  work  was  her  great  work.  In  1831, 
Dr.  Rice  presented  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
undivided  Presbyterian  Church  his  famous  overture, 
containing  principles  which  the  undivided  Church 
would  not  indeed  adopt ;  but  which  were  destined  to 
partial  adoption  by  the  Old  School  Assembly  of  1837, 
and  to  increasing  appropriation  by  the  Church  in  its 
subsequent  history  down  to  the  present. 

Dr.  Rice's  overture  is  as  follows : 

"The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
North  America,  in  organizing  their  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  in  repeated  declarations  made  through  her 
representatives  in  after  times,  have  solemnly 
recognized  the  importance  of  the  missionary  cause,  and 
their  obligations  as  Christians  to  promote  it  by  all  the 
means  in  their  power.  But  these  various  acknowledge- 
ments have  not  gone  to  the  full  extent  of  the  obliga- 
tions imposed  by  the  Head  of  the  Church,  nor  have 
they  produced  exertions  at  all  corresponding  thereto. 
Indeed,  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly, 
one  primary  and  principal  object  of  the  institution  of 
the  Church  by  Jesus  Christ,  was  not  so  much  the  sal- 
vation of  the  individual  Christians — for  'he  that  be- 
lieveth  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  shall  be  saved, — but 
the  communicating,  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel  to  the 
destitute  with  efficiency  and  united  effort.  The  entire 
history  of  the  Christian  societies  organized  by  the 
Apostles,  affords  abundant  evidence  that  they  so  under- 
stood the  design  of  the  Master.  They  received  of  Him 
a  command  to  'preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature'; 
and  from  the  Churches  planted  by  them,  the  word  of 


174         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

the  Lord  was  'sounded  out'  through  all  parts  of  the 
civilized  world.  Nor  did  the  missionary  spirit  of  the 
primitive  Churches  expire  until  they  had  become  se- 
cularized and  corrupted  by  another  spirit.  And  it  is 
the  decided  belief  of  this  General  Assembly  that  a 
true  revival  of  religion  in  any  denomination  of  Chris- 
tians, will  generally,  if  not  universally,  be  marked  by 
an  increased  sense  of  obligation  to  execute  the  com- 
mission which  Christ  gave  the  apostles. 

"The  General  Assembly  would  therefore  in  the  most 
public  and  solemn  manner  express  their  shame  and 
sorrow  that  the  Church  represented  by  them  has  done 
comparatively  so  little  to  make  known  the  saving 
health  of  the  Gospel  to  all  nations.  At  the  same  time, 
they  would  express  their  grateful  sense  of  the  goodness 
of  the  Lord,  in  employing  the  instrumentality  of  others 
to  send  salvation  to  the  heathen.  Particularly  would 
they  rejoice  at  the  divine  favor  manifested  to  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, whose  perseverance,  whose  prudence,  whose  skill 
in  conducting  this  most  important  interest,  merit  all 
praise,  and  excite  the  jo}?-  of  all  the  Churches.  With 
an  earnest  desire  therefore,  to  co-operate  with  this 
noble  institution ;  to  fulfill  in  some  part,  at  least,  their 
own  obligations ;  and  to  answer  the  just  expectation  of 
the  friends  of  Christ  in  other  denominations,  and  in 
other  countries ;  in  obedience  also  to  what  is  believed 
to  be  the  command  of  Christ. 

"Be  it  therefore,  Resolved:  i.  That  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  the  United  States  is  a  Missionary  So- 
ciety, the  object  of  which  is  to  aid  in  the  conversion 
of  the  world;  and  that  every  member  of  the  Church  is 
a  member  for  life  of  said  Society,  and  bound  in  main- 


The  Church  a  Missionary  Society  175 

tenance  of  his  Christian  character  to  do  all  in  his 
power  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  object. 

"2.  That  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  in  connection 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States, 
are  hereby  most  solemnly  required  to  present  this  sub- 
ject to  the  members  of  their  respective  congregations, 
using  every  effort  to  make  them  feel  their  obligations, 
and  to  induce  them  to  contribute  according  to  their 
ability. 

"3.  That  a  committee  of be  appointed  from  year 

to  year,  by  the  General  Assembly,  to  be  designated, 
'The  Committee  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  for  Foreign  Missions,'  to  whose  man- 
agement this  whole  concern  shall  be  confided  with 
directions  to  report  all  their  transactions  to  the 
Churches. 

"4.  The  Committee  to  have  power  to  appoint  a 
chairman,  corresponding  secretary,  treasurer,  and  other 
necessary  officers. 

"5.  The  Committee  shall,  as  far  as  the  nature  of 
the  case  will  admit,  be  co-ordinate  with  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  and 
shall  correspond  and  co-operate  with  that  association, 
in  every  possible  way,  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
great  objects  which  it  has  in  view. 

*  ♦  *  t-  >-fi  :!:  :!: 

"7.  That  every  Church  Session  be  authorized  to 
receive  contributions ;  and  be  directed  to  state  in  their 
annual  reports  to  Presbytery,  distinctly  the  amount 
contributed  by  their  respective  Churches  for  Foreign 
Missions ;  and  that  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  all 
Church  Sessions,  in  hereafter  admitting  new  members 
to  the  Churches,  distinctly  to  state  to  candidates  for 


176         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

admission,  that  if  they  join  the  Church,  they  join  a 
community  the  object  of  which  is  the  conversion  of 
the  heathen  world,  and  to  impress  on  their  minds  a 
deep  sense  of  their  obligation,  as  redeemed  sinners,  to 
co-operate  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  great  object 
of  Christ's  mission  to  the  world." 

The  Old  School  party  in  the  Church  of  1831  had 
large  sympathy  with  some  of  the  views  set  forth  in 
Dr.  Rice's  overture;  but  the  New  School  party, 
wedded  to  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  defeated  the  effort  of  the  former 
party  to  secure  the  erection  of  a  Church  committee  or 
board,  through  which  the  Church  itself  might  push 
foreign  missions,  till  1837,  when  the  Old  School  peo- 
ple being  in  the  ascendant,  organized  a  board,  appoint- 
ed by  and  directly  amenable  to  the  General  Assembly 
through  which  the  General  Assembly  should  superin- 
tend and  conduct,  by  its  own  proper  authority,  the 
work  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
This  Church  splitting  in  1838,  New  School  people  con- 
tinued to  work  with  the  American  Board  till  1870,  when 
they  withdrew  to  support  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions of  the  re-united  Presbyterian  Church,  North. 

In  1857,  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  went  to  doing 
mission  work  as  a  Church.  In  1858,  the  Associate 
Reformed  Presbyterians  became  a  part  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  withdrew  their  support  from 
the  American  Board,  the  united  body  beginning  mis- 
sion work  as  such.  In  1861,  the  Old  School  Church, 
South,  came  into  existence.  The  constituting  assem- 
bly which  met  in  Augusta,  Georgia,  December  4,  1861, 
found  on  its  hands  interesting  missions,  with  fifteen 
stations,  twelve  ordained  missionaries  and  sixteen  hun- 


The  Church  a  Missionary  Society  177 

dred  communicants.  Notwithstanding  the  war  waging 
at  the  time,  this  Church  received  this  burden  with 
joy;  and  inasmuch  as  certain  of  its  sons  were  laboring 
in  still  other  mission  territories,  it  acknowledged  its 
obligation  to  support  them,  the  way  being  open.  The 
Assembly  took  occasion  "to  direct  the  longing  eyes  of 
the  whole  Church  to  those  broad  fields  where  Satan 
reigns  almost  supreme,  to  India,  Siam,  China,  Japan, 
and  especially  Africa  and  South  America,  which  have 
peculiar  claims  upon  us,  where  we  are  soon  to  be  called 
to  win  glorious  victories  for  our  King  if  we  prove  faith- 
ful." It  solemnly  charged  the  Church,  that,  while  in 
the  convulsions  that  were  shaking  the  earth  the  com- 
ing of  His  footsteps  to  take  the  kingdom  bought  with 
his  blood  was  heard,"  they  should  be  preparing  to  meet 
Him  with  their  whole  heart  and  their  largest  offer- 
ings."    It  said,  further, 

"Finally,  the  General  Assembly  desires  distinctly 
and  deliberately  to  inscribe  on  our  Church's  banner, 
as  she  now  first  unfolds  it  to  the  world,  in  immediate 
connection  with  the  headship  of  our  Lord,  His  last 
command:  'Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature' ;  regarding  this  as  the  great 
end  of  her  organization,  and  obedience  to  it  as  the 
indispensable  condition  of  her  Lord's  promised  pres- 
ence, and  as  one  great  comprehensive  object,  a  proper 
conception  of  whose  vast  magnitude  and  grandeur  is 
the  only  thing,  which,  in  connection  with  the  love  of 
Christ,  can  ever  sufficiently  arouse  her  energies  and 
develop  her  resources  so  as  to  cause  her  to  carry  on, 
with  the  vigor  and  efficiency  which  true  fealty  to  her 
Lord  demands,  those  other  agencies  necessary  to  her 
internal    growth    and    home    prosperity.      The    claims 


178         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

of  this  cause  ought  therefore  to  be  kept  constantly 
before  the  minds  of  the  people  and  pressed  upon  their 
consciences.  The  ministers  and  ruling  elders  and 
deacons  and  Sabbath-school  teachers,  and  especially 
the  parents,  ought  and  are  enjoined  by  the  Assembly, 
to  give  particular  attention  to  all  those  for  whose  reli- 
gious teaching  they  are  responsible,  in  training  them  to 
feel  a  deep  interest  in  this  Avork,  to  form  habits  of 
systematic  benevolence,  and  to  feel  and  respond  to  the 
claims  of  Jesus  upon  them  for  personal  service  in  the 
field." 

These  words  show  that  the  leaders  of  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church  in  1861  had  a  true  mental  grasp 
of  the  obligation  of  the  Church  to  missions.  But  men 
in  a  Church  may  have  such  a  mental  grasp  and  yet 
not  act  on  it  practically;  and  leaders  may  have  such 
a  grasp  and  the  people  be  lagging  far  behind  in  theoret- 
ical grasp  and  in  the  efifort  at  practical  realization.  It 
is  a  matter  for  thanksgiving  that  the  Assembly  of  1861 
expressed  so  clearly  its  sense  of  the  Church's  duty 
and  privilege  to  be  missionary. 

In  1865,  the  German  Reformed  Church  entered 
upon  mission  work. 

It  heretofore  has  been  narrated  that  the  Church  of 
Scotland  led  the  way  in  reaching  the  consciousness 
of  the  missionary  character  of  the  Church  as  such.  In 
1843  came  the  Disruption  over  the  abuses  of  lay  patron- 
age. The  Free  Church  was  formed  and  all  the  mis- 
sionaries of  the  State  Church,  whether  at  work  among 
the  Jews,  or  in  India,  or  in  Kaffraria,  went  over  to  the 
Free  Church,  sharing  the  strong  spirit  of  self-sacrifice 
which  was  associated  with  the  formation  of  the  Free 
Church.    The  Established  Church  found,  in  1845,  other 


The  Church  a  Missionary  Society  179 

missionaries  to  take  the  place  of  those  in  India  who 
had  gone  over  to  the  Free  Church ;  and  the  Free 
Church  made  its  missions  a  great  concern  of  the 
Church  from  the  start.  This  Church  has  a  missionary- 
history  of  unusual  interest  and  value.  Dr.  Duff,  prior 
to  the  disruption  and  while  still  a  missionary  of  the 
Established  Church,  had  advocated  an  association  of 
all  the  communicants  in  every  congregation  for  prayer 
and  giving  on  behalf  of  Foreign  Missions.  In  the 
course  of  the  fifty  years  immediately  following  the 
disruption,  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  congregations 
of  the  Free  Church  came  to  have  such  quarterly  as- 
sociations ;  and  these  associations  had  become  "the 
sheet  anchor  of  the  Church's  missions,  not  only  finan- 
cially but  spiritually."  Through  them  the  whole 
Church  has  been  becoming  missionary,  and  missions 
the  business  not  of  the  few  but  of  the  many.  Having 
a  little  over  half  the  membership  of  the  Established, 
and  without  state  support,  its  funds  for  mission  work 
were  greater  in  1900,  than  the  mission  fund  of  the  State 
Church  by  one-third  of  the  latter. 

In  1847,  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  in  Scot- 
land was  constituted  by  the  union  of  the  Secession  Church 
and  the  Relief  Church.  They  had,  before  their  union, 
through  separate  societies,  been  doing  mission  work 
in  the  West  Indies,  in  West  Africa,  and  in  Kaffraria. 
After  their  union  the  mission  work  was  brought  into 
organized  connecti9n  with  the  Church.  The  Church 
had  come  to  recognize  itself  as  a  missionary  society. 

October  31,  1900,  the  Free  Church  and  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland  united  to  form  the 
United  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  This  Church  carries 
on  missions  as  a  concern  of  the  Church ;  and  is  a  most 
important  missionary  agency. 


i8o        Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

The  Presbyterian  Church  is  "by  its  institution,  con- 
stitution, object  and  early  history  ...  a  directly 
aggressive  missionary  power."  "Presbyterianism  sup- 
plies now,  as  in  the  time  of  the  Acts  of  the  apostles, 
just  the  agency  and  machinery  wanted  for  Foreign 
as  well  as  Home  Missions,  The  gradation  of  courts, 
in  which  the  laity  are  equally  represented,  from  the 
Kirk-Session  to  the  General  Assembly,  which  appoints 
the  foreign  and  other  mission  committees  annually, 
and  annually  reviews  their  proceedings,  enables  the 
whole  Church  to  act  directly  on  the  mission  field,  while 
it  summons  every  member  personally  to  pray  and  give, 
and  attracts  missionaries  from  the  front  ranks  of  divini- 
ty students  and  ministers.  In  the  foreign  field  itself 
as  converts  become  formed  into  congregations,  Pres- 
byterianism — if  honestly  worked — enables  them  to 
call  their  own  pastor,  support  their  own  machinery, 
and  extend  it  around  them  as  self-governing  and  self- 
developing  communities.  As  the  missionary  enter- 
prise of  Christendom  grows,  it  must  tend  to  work  less 
through  societies  and  more  through  Churches." 

Congregationalists  and  Baptists,  having  no  fit  or- 
ganization for  the  conduct  of  mission  work,  have  been 
driven  to  continue  the  use  of  societies  which  have  no 
organic  connection  with  the  Church.  Nevertheless  the 
missionary  spirit  has  continued  to  grow  in  these 
Churches,  the  American  and  British,  and  in  the  great 
Methodist  connections.  Even  the  people  of  the  Euro- 
pean continental  Protestant  Churches  have  been 
awakening  in  remarkable  degrees  to  their  personal 
missionary  obligations. 

The  zeal  for  missions  has  been  made  more  wide- 
spread   by    certain    inter-denominational    movements. 


The  Church  a  Missionary  Society  i8i 

such   as   the   China   Iiihuid   Mission,   founded   by   that 
genius  of  deep  consecration,  Dr.  J.  Hudson  Taylor. 
This  mission  was  founded,  1865,  to  preach  the  Gospel 
exclusively  in  China.     It  sought  missionaries  from  all 
denominations,  if  only  they    had  the    old    Scriptural 
faith.      It    made    little    of    educational    but    much    of 
spiritual  preparation,  and  welcomed  women  as  preach- 
ers as  well  as  men.    It  sought  missionaries  who  would 
look  for  no  fixed  salary,  but  be  content  with  whatever 
God  should  supply.     Under  the  influence  of  expecta- 
tion   of    the  early    return    of  Christ,    it    made    the  es- 
sence of  mission  work  not  Christianizing  but  evangel- 
ising;   and    it    sought    to    throw    the    largest    possible 
missionary  force  into  the  field  at  once.     This  society 
has  not  only  thrown   a  large  number  of  missionary 
workers  intcJ  the  field,  but  provoked  into  being  other 
societies  of  similar  character,  and  through  the  "Cam- 
bridge Seven",  and  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement 
for  Foreign    Mission,    has    been    stirring    Protestant 
Christendom  down  to  the  present.    In  1884,  the  "Cam- 
bridge Seven"  started  a  missionary  fire  amongst  the 
youth  of  Great  Britain.     It  spread  to  North  America. 
"At  a  conference  of  students  which  Moody  summoned 
to  Mount  Hermon,   Massachusetts,  in  the  middle  of 
1886,  and  which  was  held  for  some  weeks  and  was 
devoted  to  the  practical  study  of  the  Bible,  there  was 
formed,  chiefly  on  the  incentive  of  young  Mr.  Wilder, 
a  band  of  students,  or  those  of  both  sexes,  preparing 
to  be  students,  who  made  a  written  declaration,  that 
they  were  willing  to  become  missionaries  if  God  per- 
mitted, and  who    chose    as    their    watchword,    "The 
evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  generation."    The 
first    hundred    who    so    united    themselves  at  Mount 


i82         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

Hermoii,  then  organized  an  agitation  in  the  colleges 
and  seminaries,  which,  certainly  not  without  Methodis- 
tical  forcing  and  the  rhetoric  of  enthusiasm,  set  a  move- 
ment at  work  that  in  a  comparatively  short  time  made, 
it  was  said,  over  five  thousand  young  people  willing  to 
join  the  band,  which  was  now  constituted  as  the  "Stu- 
dent Volunteer  Missionary  Union,"* 

Sobriety  has  been  injected  into  the  movement  as 
the  years  have  passed.  While  the  "rhetorical  watch- 
word" has  been  retained,  they  are  careful,  many  of 
them,  to  say  that  they  advocate  an  effort  to  evangelize 
thoroughly ;  and  that  this  cry  is  an  appeal  to  the  present 
generation  to  do  their  utmost  toward  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world.  Able  advocates  of  this  movement 
have  endeavored  to  set  it  agoing  in  all  parts  of  Protes- 
tant Christendom. 

These  movements  and  the  Moody  and  Keswick 
evangelistic  movements  have  prepared  the  vv^ay  for  the 
forward  movement  in  our  own  Church,  in  which  the 
effort  is  made  to  get  individuals,  or  local  Churches,  to 
support  year  after  year  one  or  more  missionaries  each. 

They  have  prepared  the  way  in  part,  also,  for  the 
Laymen's  Missionary  Movement.  The  Head  of  the 
Church,  unquestionably  has  used  the  Students'  Volun- 
teer and  subsequent  movements  to  stir  the  evangelical 
Churches  and  societies  to  greater  exertion.  The 
Church  has  not  yet  been  sufficiently  aroused ;  she  can- 
not be  regarded  as  sufficiently  aroused  until  all  the 
rank  and  file — every  member — shall  be  doing  his  ut- 
most to  push  the  cause  of  Christ;  but  she  has  shown 
increasing  signs  of  life. 

*Robson's,  Warneck:  History  of  Pr&tcstant  Missions^  p.  ii8. 


The  Church  a  Missionary  Society  183 

The  missionary  portion  of  Protestantism  has  held 
for  the  most  part  the  simple  evangelical  theory  of 
Christianity.  It  has  already  been  remarked  that  cer- 
tain eschatological  views  of  early  Lutherans  and 
that  certain  views  as  to  the  proper  relations  of  Church 
and  state,  obtaining  amongst  Lutherans  and  Reformed 
alike,  had  made  missionary  effort  unnatural  to  them.  It 
has  also  been  remarked  that  just  where  connection 
between  Church  and  state  was  loosest,  i.  e.,  amongst 
dissenters  and  half-dissenters  the  zeal  for  missions  first 
appeared.  Not  that  dissent  was  enough  to  produce  the 
missionary  spirit.  Evangelical  dissent  has  been  pushing 
missions  as  no  other  Protestant  power  since  the  death 
of  Carey.  It  has  carried  representatives  of  state 
Churches  in  its  train.  Rationalistic  and  semi-infidel 
Christianity  has  made  little  attempt  to  propagate  it- 
self on  the  foreign  field.  It  has  no  sufficient  motive. 
The  evangelicals  have  furnished  the  men  and  the 
money  for  mission  work. 

The  aim  of  the  workers  has  been  almost  universally 
to  win  true  disciples ;  and  as  the  years  have  passed 
the  purpose  of  "establishing  in  strategic  places  suffi- 
ciently equipped,  self-maintaining  and  self-propagat- 
ing Churches,  which  shall  themselves  go  on  winning 
such  converts,  has  become  more  clear  and  definite.  It 
is  desired  to  give  to  Japan,  for  example,  a  Christian 
plant  like  our  Christian  plant  here  at  home  though  at 
once  Japanese  and  thoroughly  Christian,  that  can  and 
will  take  Japan  for  Christ;  and  that  will  do  it  rapidly 
and  solidly. 

Throughout  a  large  portion  of  the  period,  mission 
work  has  been  carried  on  with  a  certain  simplicity 
"without  entering  much  on  questions  belonging  to  the 


184         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

theory  of  missions" ;  but  as  intelligence  concerning  the 
countries,  peoples  and  tribes  to  be  evangelized  has  in- 
creased, and  as  a  better  comprehension  of  the  principles 
of  apostolic  missions  has  been  acquired,  the  theory  of 
proper  missionary  endeavor  has  received  more  atten- 
tion; and  an  increasing  effort  has  been  made  to  resur- 
rect and  apply  the  principles  applied  under  the  imme- 
diate leading  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  apostolic  age. 
There  is  a  more  generally  conscious  effort  to  work  to- 
day so  as  to  secure  for  to-morrow  the  largest  addi- 
tional army  of  efficient  witness-bearers.  There  is  a 
less  general  disposition  to  seek  for  mere  numbers  with- 
out regard  to  efficiency.  There  is  a  more  general 
recognition  of  the  possibility  of  the  relative  wasting 
of  forces,  men  and  treasure,  by  going  after  this  people 
instead  of  that;  or  going  at  them  in  great  force  now 
instead  of  on  some  favorable  juncture.  There  is  a 
more  common  conception  of  the  urgency  of  the  ob- 
ligations to  capture  for  Christ  great  peoples  in  sea- 
sons of  special  openness.  There  is,  in  short,  fuller 
recognition  of  the  divine  strategy  and  tactics  of  the 
apostolic  age,  and  a  greater  effort  to  command  men- 
tally the  conditions  of  all  the  peoples  to  be  evange- 
lized ;  and  to  attempt  their  evangelization  in  a  tactical 
and  strategic  way.  It  may  be  admitted,  however,  that 
an  adequate  theory  of  missions  setting  the  principles 
in  full  and  scientific  form  has  not  yet  been  furnished. 
The  histrument  used  by  the  Protestant  Churches  and 
missionary  societies  in  missions  has  been  almost  exclu- 
sively the  word,  taught  and  lived.  It  is  probable  that 
here  and  there  a  missionary  has  descended  to  the  use 
of  a  veiled  bribe ;  that  as  Rice  Christians  were  to  be 
had  by  those  who  wished  to  purchase  them,  so  oc- 


The  Church  a  Missionary  Society  185 

casionally  a  missionary  stooped  to  the  purclrase.    This 
sort  of  work  has,  however,  been  far  from  frequent. 

As  to  the  Methods:  The  evangehstic  has  been  the 
most  generally  in  application.  The  evangelist  has 
gather  his  own  crowd  of  listeners  in  every  legiti- 
mate way,  and  wherever  they  could  be  gotten  to 
listen,  and  told  them  the  story  of  redemption, 
told  it  in  the  simplest  and  most  living  manner 
he  could  command.  For  example,  James  Gil- 
mour  working  amongst  the  Mongolian  nomads,  is 
found,  first  of  all,  after  reaching  an  encampment,  dis- 
sipating the  native  reserve  by  tea-drinking,  then  pro- 
ducing and  exhibiting  a  case  of  Scripture  pictures,  and 
stating  the  main  doctrines  of  Christianity  in  connec- 
tion with  them ;  and  "thus  enabling  even  the  stupid 
to  apprehend  his  teaching  and  to  remember  it." 
Scarcely  another  evengelist  has  found  a  people  so  ready 
for  evangelistic  work  as  Titus  Coan  found  those  of 
Hilo  in  1835.  After  the  beginning  of  the  great  revival, 
1837,  "nearly  the  whole  population  of  Hilo  and  Puna 
attended  religious  services ;  the  sick  and  the  lame  were 
brought  in  litters  and  on  the  backs  of  men ;  and  at  any 
hour  of  the  day  or  night  a  tap  of  the  bell  would  gather 
thousands  at  the  places  for  prayer  and  preaching." 
The  years  1838  and  1839  were  great  harvest  years  with 
him.  Seven  or  eight  thousand  professed  conversion. 
They  were  slowly  admitted  to  the  Church.  Great  care 
was  taken  in  examining-,  watching  and  teaching  the  can- 
didates. But  July  I,  1838,  1,705  were  received  into 
membership ;  and  2,400  communicants  sat  down 
together  at  the  table  of  the  Lord.  During  the  five 
years,  ending  June,  1841,  7,557  persons  were  received 
into  the  Church  at  Hilo. 


i86         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

The  success  of  the  evangelist  Coan  is  explained  in 
part  by  the  work  of  preparation  done  in  Hilo  before 
his  arrival.  Missionary  work  had  been  done  there  al- 
ready. A  small  Church  of  thirty-six  members  had 
been  gathered,  about  one-fourth  of  the  population 
taught  to  read,  and  not  a  little  Christian  truth  put  into 
circulation.  It  is  explained  in  part  by  the  fact  of  Mr. 
Coan's  peculiar  fitness  for  the  work;  in  part,  by  the 
fact  that  the  people  had  been  savages,  without  a  cultus 
that  could  hold  their  respect  and  without  a  civilization 
comparable  in  any  respect  to  that  which  the  mission- 
aries brought  them.  It  is  easier  to  lead  savages  to 
Christianity  than  the  civilized,  or  semi-civilized  non- 
Christian  peoples.  In  these  remarks  we  are  not  for- 
getting the  efficient  and  sovereign  working  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  without  whose  agency  savage  nor  civilized 
can  be  won  to  a  real  Christianity. 

Many  faithful  and  able  evangelists  labor  for  years 
with  small  results,  feeling  at  times  that  they  apparently 
would  have  done  as  much  through  months,  if  they 
had  been  preaching  to,  or  conversing  with,  the  waves 
of  the  sea.  Still  evangelistic  preaching  is  relied  on 
mainly  to  spread  the  Gospel ;  and  not  less  than  four 
or  five  thousand  ordained  preachers,  and  a  larger  num- 
ber of  unordained  evengelists  and  catechists  are 
preaching  the  Gospel  to-day  to  heathen  peoples.  They 
are  talking  this  Gospel,  too,  in  private,  as  Christ  did 
to  the  woman  by  the  well,  and  to  Nicodemus  by  night. 
Women  are  talking  it  in  Zenanas  and  to  their  heathen 
sisters  whom  Christian  men  cannot  reach.  They  are 
meeting  objections.  They  are  instilling  the  truth,  drop 
by  drop. 

The  literary  method  came  into  large  application  as 


The  Church  a  Missionary  Society  187 

has  appeared  in  the  time  of  William  Carey,  and  it  has 
been  more  and  more  used  with  the  progress  of  the 
cause.  It  too,  had  an  apostolic  warrant,  a  large  part 
of  the  New  Testament  being  missionary  literature.  It 
has  ever  proven  one  of  the  most  effective  ways  in 
which  the  missionary  can  present  his  message  to  the 
heathen.  This  method  has  had  its  largest  and  noblest 
application  as  yet  in  giving  to  heathen  peoples  the 
sacred  Scriptures  in  their  own  tongues.  Between  five 
hundred  and  fifty  and  six  hundred  missionaries  have 
made  translations  of  the  Scriptures.  By  far  the  larger 
proportion  of  existing  versions  are  the  product  of  the 
toil  of  missionaries  on  the  field,  and  are  used  in  foreign 
missionary  operations ;  the  number  of  living  and  effec- 
tive versions  is  in  excess  of  four  hundred. 

Of  only  less  importance  is  the  interpretative  and 
applicatory  Christian  literature — subsidiary  to  the 
Bible.  Christian  peoples  in  the  home  land  would  get 
on  badly  without  such  literature.  It  is  not  less  needed 
on  heathen  soil  for  the  support,  comfort,  and  edifica- 
tion of  the  Christianized  heathen.  There  are  not  less 
than  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  printing  houses  on 
heathen  soil  devoted  to  publications  of  this  sort.  Only 
thirty  of  them  are  of  considerable  size,  however,  and 
as  missionaries  are  working  in  about  three  hundred 
languages,  and  as  these  mission  presses  are  not  pro- 
portionately distributed,  far  less  is  being  done  along 
this  line  than  should  be  done.  Publication  work  of 
the  sort  is  so  essential  to  rapid  spread  of  the  Gospel 
and  the  permanent  establishment  and  upbuilding  of 
the  Church  that  more  strength  should  be  laid  out 
along  this  line.  Particularly  there  seems  to  be  a  need 
for  the  improvement  of  the  periodical  output  in  the 


i88         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

native  languages ;  and  plans  should  be  made  for  the 
development  of  a  permanent  Christian  literature  in  all 
heathen  lands. 

The  educational  method  during  the  early  stages  of 
Protestant  missionary  enterprise  had  been  regarded  by 
very  many  as  inconsistent  with  the  true  missionary 
aim.  It  was  legitimated  in  the  thought  of  the  Churches 
first,  as  necessary  in  order  to  furnish  Christian  leaders 
for  the  growing  bodies  of  converts  to  Christianity.  By 
degrees  it  has  come  to  hold  an  ever-growing  import- 
ance in  the  minds  of  missionaries.  It  prepares  the 
way  for  the  Gospel  by  showing  the  falsity  of  the  teach- 
ings of  the  heathen  religions,  the  baselessness  of  their 
superstitions,  the  immorality  of  many  of  their  time- 
honored  customs,  and  their  crude  and  childish  expla- 
nation of  physical  phenomena.  It  prevents  the  vitiat- 
ing and  hardening  influence  of  the  heathen  education 
which  would  otherwise  take  place.  It  is  as  necessary 
to  the  high  type  of  Christian  character  in  the  heathen 
land  as  it  is  in  the  home  land.  It  is  necessary  to 
enable  Christian  converts  to  go  to  the  front  in  business 
and  professional  careers  and  thus  give  the  Gospel  a 
more  favorable  hearing  than  it  could  otherwise  have. 
It  is,  in  many  mission  territories,  necessary  in  order 
that  people  be  enabled  to  read  the  word  of  God,  and 
thus  get  that  knowledge  of  the  truth  which  God  has 
been  pleased  to  make  the  condition  of  regeneration. 

It  has  come  to  be  a  very  pronounced  method  of 
missionary  endeavor.  There  are  at  present  more  than 
20,000  educational  institutions  of  all  kinds,  with  more 
than  1,000,000  pupils  of  whom  about  one-third  are 
females.  The  preparatory  schools  have  sprung  into 
being  in  great  numbers  during  the  last  twenty-five 
years. 


The  Church  a  Missionary  Society  189 

The  manner  in  which  educational  work  is  con- 
ducted in  the  mission  fields  is  so  similar  in  all  re- 
spects to  the  way  in  which  it  is  conducted  at  home 
that  no  description  is  needed.  Hardly  any  new  fad  at 
home  fails  of  its  analogue  on  the  foreign  field. 

Educated  ministers,  taking  the  place  of  mission- 
aries and  allowing  the  latter  to  devote  themselves  to 
superintendance  and  to  further  evangelization  in  new 
centres ;  a  better  furnished  body  of  laymen  to  countei- 
balance  the  undue  influence  of  the  ministry;  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  standard  of  Christian  living  by  a  knowledge 
of  Christian  customs  in  the  home-land ;  the  elevation 
of  womanhood ;  and  the  proof  to  the  heathen  that 
Christianity  cares  for  the  whole  man,  are  some  of  the 
fruits  of  the  educational  method. 

The  medical  method  has  had  a  remarkable  develop- 
ment in  recent  mission  history.  Though  there  were 
forty  medical  missionaries  on  the  field  as  1849,  it  was 
not  till  1879  that  the  value  of  this  agency  for  reaching 
heathen  peoples  became  fully  recognized.  Throughout 
the  heathen  world,  Japan  excepted,  the  practice  of 
medicine  is  marked  by  dense  superstition  and  carried 
on  with  unspeakable  cruelty.  Christian  medical  mis- 
sions open  the  way  for  the  entrance  of  the  evangelists, 
pastor  and  teacher.  They  propitiate  the  favor,  often 
of  the  great,  for  the  message  which  the  missionary 
carries;  they  open  doors  into  the  hearts  of  their  pa- 
tients for  the  Gospel,  being  fruit  of  Gospel  grace.  They 
secure  protection  and  provision.  They  destroy  social 
barriers  to  the  spread  of  Gospel  doctrine,  e.  g.  caste. 

In  principle  at  least,  the  medical  is  vindicated  by 
the  example  of  Christ,  who  was  wont  to  heal  the 
body  and  follow  up  with  instruction  touching  that  life 
which  really  is  life.  '       '' 


190         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

The  industrial  method  has  been  Hmited  thus  far  to 
a  narrow  range  of  missionary  effort.  "But  in  some 
portions  of  Africa,  among  simple  and  ignorant  people, 
they  have  been  found  eminently  helpful  in  giving  direc- 
tion to  life,  and  opening  up  a  sphere  of  usefulness  at 
the  same  time  that  they  afford  an  opportunity  for  re- 
ligious instruction.  They  seem  to  rescue  young  lives 
from  inanity  and  idleness,  and  give  them  a  start  in 
a  career  of  self-respecting  usefulness,  with  the  Gospel 
planted  in  their  hearts." 

The  workers  in  this  period  have  grown  steadily  in 
numbers  from  William  Carey's  day  to  the  present ;  but 
more  rapidly  since  the  organization  of  the  China  In- 
land Mission,  the  rise  of  the  Keswick  and  Moody 
movements,  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  etc. 
There  were  in  1900  not  fewer  than  6,850  missionaries, 
470  qualified  medical  missionaries,  3,250  unmarried 
female  missionaries,  and  230  certificated  women  mis- 
sionaries, making  a  total  staff  of  10,800.  The  number 
has  increased  greatly  since  that  date,  certainly  by 
more  than  the  one-half  of  itself.  While  some  socie- 
ties and  Churches  continue  to  send  almost  any  ap- 
parently pious  person  who  will  agree  to  go,  many  of 
the  societies  and  Churches  prosecuting  missions  look 
more  and  more  for  men  qualified  by  native  endowments 
and  training  for  leadership ;  and  the  missionary  ranks 
are  marked  not  only  by  a  high  general  level  of  Chris- 
tian consecration,  but  by  not  a  few  men  of  command- 
ing abilities  and  culture,  and  efficiency  in  a  variety  of 
conditions.  Alexander  Duff  was  a  man  of  marked 
talent  whom  his  Church  would  have  had  return  to 
Scotland  in  1846,  on  the  death  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  to  hold 
the  office  of  principal  and  professor  of  theology  in  the 


The  Church  a  Missionary  Society  191 

Free  College.  But  he  had  a  more  important  post  in 
India  in  his  collegiate  institute  with  its  800  or  more 
students,  and  he  knew  it.  His  "dauntless  will,  con- 
summate eloquence,  impassioned  piety,  great  self- 
reliance,"  place  him  close  to  Thomas  Chalmers  in  the 
ranks  of  great  Scotchmen.  Great  as  Duff  is  he  stands 
in  company  with  peers,  in  Adoniram  Judson,  John 
Kenneth  MacKenzie,  Alexander  Murdoch  Mackay, 
David  Livingstone,  George  Leslie  Mackay,  James  Gil- 
mour,  Titus  Coan,  Ian  Keith-Falconer,  Robert  Morri- 
son, etc. 

These  missionaries  have  been  instrumental  in  set- 
ting to  active  work  a  great  force  of  native  Christian 
workers.  There  were  in  1903  about  70,000  native 
workers,  24,500  places  of  regular  worship,  23,527  ele- 
mentary schools,  900  higher  educational  institutions  of 
learning,  553  hospitals,  147  publishing  houses  and 
printing  establishments.  These  helpers,  schools  and 
so  forth  have  been  multiplied  several  fold  in  the  last 
thirty  years. 

The  missionary  workers  have  been  very  unequally 
distributed  over  the  mission  territory.  Of  late,  for  ex- 
ample, about  two-ninths  only  of  the  entire  missionary 
force  have  been  at  work  among  the  700.000,000  non- 
Christian  peoples  of  India,  China  and  Japan ;  while 
nearly  four-ninths  of  this  entire  force  have  been  at 
work  among  180,000,000  heathen  of  the  lower  and 
the  lowest  grades  of  heathenism.  This  has  been  due 
in  part  to  the  greater  accessibility  of  these  lower  grades 
of  peoples  than  the  higher  to  the  missionary.  Thus 
God  has  been  pleased  to  show  favor  to  the  poor  Sama- 
ritans of  the  modern  world.  This  distribution  has 
been  due  in  part,  perhaps,  to  want  of  consideration 


192         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

on  the  part  of  the  Church  as  to  how  the  work  might 
be  done  most  strategically.  It  is  believed  that  mis- 
sionary workers  are  now,  as  never  before,  looking  for 
J:he  right  end  at  which  to  take  hold  of  the  great  job 
before  them — the  taking  of  the  world  for  Christ. 

The  numbers  won  on  heathen  soil  since  the  going 
out  of  Duff  to  India  are  not  large ;  but  have  been  in- 
creasing with  the  decades.  It  is  said  that  the  total 
number  of  Christian  adherents  won  from  heathenism, 
and  then  living,  did  not  exceed  70,000  in  1800.  It  is 
said  that  by  1881,  the  number  of  such  adherents  had 
grown  to  2,283,000;  and  that  by  1903,  the  number  had 
come  to  be  4,462,500. 

During  this  period  Protestantism,  through  its 
spawning  power  and  home  missions,  has  grown  im- 
mensely ;  and  the  results  of  its  missions  to  the  heathen 
cannot  be  measured  by  the  number  of  the  converts, 
unless  these  be  regarded  as  seed  in  a  soil  that  has  been 
helpfully  and  increasingly  stirred  by  a  great  variety 
of  methods,  evangelistic,  literary,  medical,  etc.,  and 
which  may  be  expected,  after  a  little  to  bring  forth, 
some  thirty,  some  sixty,  and  some  an  hundred  fold. 
The  character  of  the  converts  won  while  not  up  to  the 
level  of  Christian  character  in  Europe  and  America, 
speaks  of  the  uplifting  power  of  the  Gospel.  For  ex- 
ample, "In  South  India  there  is  one  convicted  of  crime 
out  of  25,000  Christians,  one  out  of  447  Hindus,  and 
one  out  of  728  Mohammedans." 

The  world  has  opened  up  to  missions  in  this  age 
as  never  before.  India  was  opened  up  more  and  more 
after  1313.  From  1858,  the  missionaries  throughout  all 
British  India  were  certain  of  British  civil  protection. 
China  has  been  opening  by  degrees  since  1842 ;  Japan 


The  Church  a  Missionary  Society  193 

since  1853,  and  more  rapidly  after  1858;  and  Korea 
since  1882.  Since  1870,  a  large  part  of  the  world  has 
fallen  open  as  never  before.  The  Mohammedan  world 
however,  particularly  that  part  of  it  under  Moham- 
medan civil  government,  cannot  be  said  to  be  really 
open  for  work  on  Mohammedans.    Nor  is  Tibet  open. 

This  vast  open  territory  the  Church  is  trying  to 
overrun;  to  build  up  fortresses  here  and  there  all  over 
it,  fortresses  which  shall,  everywhere,  become  great 
recruiting  camps  for  the  armies  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts ; 
and  from  which  shall  go  out  bands  that  shall  at  length 
take  all  the  land.  When  the  forces  at  work  on  the 
field,  and  the  converts  won,  are  compared  with  the 
one  billion  heathen  the  promise  of  an  early  conquest 
may  look  small.  But  Christianity  is  now  the  religion 
of,  by  far,  the  largest  number  of  adherents  of  all  the 
religions.  The  Christians  control  the  politics  and  the 
resources  of  the  world  as  the  peoples  of  all  other  re- 
ligions combined  do  not.  The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  on 
the  side  of  missions.  Let  Him  stir  Christian  peoples 
in  behalf  of  missions,  and  pour  out  His  Spirit  upon 
all  flesh — upon  heathen  peoples;  and  nations  shall  be 
born  in  a  day. 

This  is  an  age  of  measureless  opportunities,  in  the 
open  doors,  of  measureless  advantages  in  the  Christian 
plants  installed,  in  the  impression  already  made  on 
heathenism,  and  in  the  indications  of  the  divine  readi- 
ness to  bless  mission  work. 


LECTURE  X. 
Motives  to  Missionary  Endeavor. 

In  the  course  of  these  lectures  we  have  endeavored 
to  set  forth  the  place  of  missions  in  the  divine  design 
of  the  Church  and  its  life,  the  principles  which  the 
Church's  Great  Head  would  have  her  apply  in  her 
missionary  efforts,  the  application  of  these  principles 
in  his  missionary  work  by  the  apostle  Paul.  We  have 
tried  also  to  describe,  in  its  more  important  aspects, 
the  Church's  missionary  work,  in  all  the  several 
periods  of  Church  history  from  the  apostolic  age  to  the 
present;  and  to  show  the  real  character  of  this  work, 
in  the  several  periods  by  comparing,  or  contrasting, 
it  with  apostolic  teaching  and  example.  In  the  course 
of  these  lectures  many  reasons  have  been  brought  to 
view  incidentally  wherefore  the  Church  of  our  day 
should  give  itself  to  missionary  endeavor.  But  mis- 
sions are  of  such  practical  importance  that  it  has  been 
deemed  expedient  to  gather  together  for  your  consid- 
eration some  of  the  more  urgent  reasons  for  missionary 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  Church. 

My  brethren,  do  you  understand  the  importance  of 
missionary  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Church?  Do  you 
feel  its  importance?  Are  you  fully  awake  on  this  sub- 
ject? Have  you  determined  that  wherever  you  work 
and  whatever  you  do  you  will  push  the  mission  cause? 
Whether  you  are  pastors,  or  evangelists,  or  professors, 
or  editors,  you  ought  to  be  missionary  in  heart,  aim- 
ing so  to  spend  your  lives  as  to  spread  the  Gospel  most 


Motives  to  Missionary  Endeavor  195 

rapidly  and  fully  throughout  the  whole  earth.  Many 
of  you  should  labor  in  the  foreign  field,  perhaps.  "My 
brethren,  I  am  ashamed  that  there  are  so  many  of  us 
here  in  this  Christian  land.  We  must  go  to  the 
heathen,"*  said  Dr.  William  Armstrong  to  the  minis- 
ters and  Church  of  Richmond,  Va.,  in  1833. 

Might  not  his  words  be  repeated  with  fitness  in 
many  of  the  towns  and  cities  in  this  land?  There  are 
too  many  ministers  at  home  in  proportion  to  those  in 
foreign  missions  fields ;  and  too  many  in  the  older  por- 
tions of  the  Church  in  proportion  to  the  number  in  the 
destitute  districts  of  the  home  land.  When  Gossner 
said,  in  Berlin,  in  1844,  to  young  men  starting  for 
India,  "Up,  up,  my  brethren,  the  Lord  is  coming,  and 
to  every  one  He  will  say,  'Where  hast  thou  left  the 
souls  of  the  heathen?  With  the  devil?'  Oh  swiftly 
seek  those  souls  and  enter  not  without  them  into  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,"  he  was  guilty  of  no  empty 
hyperbole.  By  a  man  of  sufficient  earnestness,  a  like 
exhortation  might  well  be  addressed  to  the  young  men 
of  to-day  in  behalf  of  the  destitute  in  Foreign  and  in 
Home  Mission  fields. 

Let  us,  then,  with  a  prayer  for  the  Spirit's  bless- 
ing upon  our  work,  review  some  of  the  motives  which 
should  lead  the  Church  of  God  of  our  day  to  give 
itself  to  spreading  the  truth  from  pole  to  pole  and 
around  the  whole  belt  of  the  globe — some  of  the  mo- 
tives which  should  make  you  willing  to  go  anywhere 
and  do  any  right  thing  in  order  to  further  most  effi- 
ciently the  discipling  of  all  nations. 

Amongst  the  many  forces  which  should  lead  the 

*  A.   C.  Thompson,  Foreign  Missions,  p.  7. 


196         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

Church — which  should  lead  you  to  missionary  en- 
deavor, are : 

1st.  Love  to  God.  Love  to  God  should  lead  you  to 
missionary  endeavor. 

God  desires  that  the  Church  should  be  missionary. 
He  has  shown  this  unmistakably  by  the  constitution 
which  he  gave  the  Church  in  Abraham's  day  and  on 
which  he  has  kept  it  down  to  this  day.  He  has  shown 
it  also  by  His  providential  dealing  with  it  in  history. 
He  has  shown  it  by  all  His  revealed  teachings  concern- 
jog  the  design  of  the  Church  and  the  nature  of  the 
Gospel ;  and  He  has  shown  it  by  laying  the  express 
injunction  on  the  Church,  "Go  ye,  therefore,  and  dis- 
ciple all  nations."  * 

He  who  studies  the  constitution  of  the  Church  as 
set  forth  in  Scripture,  the  design  of  the  Church  and 
of  the  Gospel,  the  leading  of  the  Church  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  the  last  charge  to  his  immediate  disciples 
of  the  Lord  Christ,  can  have  no  doubt  that  the  Church 
and  its  members  can  only  meet  the  divine  approba- 
tion by  steadily  and  earnestly  applying  themselves  to 
missionary  endeavor.  The  God  of  revelation  wishes  the 
Church  to  give  the  Gospel  to  all  nations ;  and  not  mere- 
ly to  all  nations,  in  their  mass  severally,  but  to  all  of 
all  nations ;  not  merely  to  Korea,  and  China,  and  Japan, 
and  India,  and  Africa,  but  to  all  the  Koreans,  all  the 
Chinese,  all  the  Japanese,  all  the  Hindoos  and  all  the 
Africans.  He  wishes  his  followers  of  to-day  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  all  who  have  it  not ;  to  Hottentots,  to 
Hindoo  Coolies,    High    Caste    Brahmins,    Thibetians, 

*  Matt,  xxviii.   19,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature."        Mark  xvi.  15. 


Motives  to  Missionary  Endeavor  197 

the  upper  four  hundred  of  New  York,  the  lowest  four 
hundred  thousand  in  the  same  city — all  every  where 
who  have  not  the  Gospel.  He  wishes  His  Church  not 
simply  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  hearing  of  every 
creature,  but  to  endeavor  to  make  disciples  of  them 
by  putting  them  into  personal  individual  relations  to 
Christ  like  those  of  the  pupils  to  their  revered  Jewish 
Rabbi. 

There  can  be  no  question  as  to  what  the  Church 
and  what  you  must  do  if  God  is  to  be  pleased ;  nor 
can  there  be  any  question  as  to  God's  worthiness  to 
be  pleased.  Of  measureless  power  and  wisdom  and 
holiness  and  justice  and  goodness  and  truth;  so  loving 
"the  world  as  to  send  His  only  begotten  Son  that  who- 
soever believeth  on  Him  should  not  perish  but  have 
everlasting  life,"  "commending  His  love  unto  us  in 
that  while  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us,"  surely  we 
ought  to  desire  to  please  Him.  Nor  should  it  be  for- 
gotten that  the  command  to  disciple  all  nations  was 
given  by  that  person  in  the  blessed  Trinity  who  at 
once  occupied  the  most  intimate  relations  with  man 
and  has  purchased  those  relationships,  at  infinite  cost 
to  himself.  The  command  to  disciple  all  nations  was 
uttered  by  the  incarnate  Son,  as  Mediatorial  King.  He 
had  the  right  to  lay  this  command  upon  his  disciples 
not  only  because  of  his  divine  perfection,  but  because 
he  had  purchased  the  Mediatorial  Kingship  by  His 
vicarious  toils  and  sufferings  for  man.  He  had  served 
God  and  man  to  death,  and  through  death,  and  God  had 
"raised  Him  from  the  dead  and  set  Him  at  His  own 
right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places,  far  above  all  prin- 
cipalities and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and 
every  name  that  is  named  not  only  in  this  world,  but 


198         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

also  in  that  which  is  to  come ;  and  put  all  things  under 
his  feet,  and  gave  Him  to  he  the  head  over  all  things  to 
the  Church,  which  is  His  body  the  fidness  of  Him  that 
aileth  all  in  all."  Christ  the  Mediatorial  King  our  Re- 
deemer, God,  of  infinite  essential  moral  worth,  and  who 
hath  also  purchased,  at  the  cost  of  His  incarnation, 
humiliation  and  death,  the  headship  over  His  own,  bids 
them — you — go  and  disciple  all  nations. 

"Ko-Chat-Thing,  a  Karen  convert,  when  in  this 
country,  was  asked  on  one  occasion  to  address  a  con- 
gregation respecting  their  obligation  to  send  out  mis- 
sionaries. After  a  moment  of  thought  he  asked  with 
a  good  deal  of  emotion :  'Has  not  Christ  told  them  to 
do  it?'  'Oh,  yes,'  was  the  reply,  'but  we  wish  you  to 
remind  them  of  their  duty.'  'Oh,  no,'  said  the  Karen, 
'if  they  will  not  mind  Jesus  Christ,  they  will  not  mind 
me.'  No  indeed ;  if  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  if  they  hear  not  Him  who  has  risen  from 
the  dead,  whom  will  they  hear?"* 

See  what  God's  desire  for  His  Church  is,  in  the 
matter  of  missions,  and  that  His  desert  of  love  on  our 
part  toward  Him  is  infinite,  and  that  in  the  person  of 
the  Son,  He  has  laid  by  express  command,  the  duty  of 
world  wide  missions  on  his  followers  and  His  Church, 
love  to  God,  if  it  be  in  us,  must  move  us  to  give  our- 
selves to  missionary  endeavor,  it  will  say,  with  Paul, 
"For  we  have  thus  judged  that  in  that  Christ  died  he 
died  that  henceforth  we  who  live,  should  not  live  unto 
ourselves  but  unto  Him  who  for  our  sakes  died  and 
rose  again." 

2nd.  Love  to  your  fellow-man  should  move  you  to 
missionary  endeavor. 

*A.  C.  Thompson,  Foreign  Missions,  pp.  62  ff. 


Motives  to  Missionary  Endeavor  199 

We  take  for  granted  that  you  are  possessed  of  this 
high  quahty.  It  is  of  the  very  Spirit  of  Christ;  and 
you  are  believed  to  be  Christians.  If  you  are  wholly 
destitute  of  Christian  love  for  your  fellowman,  you 
are  no  more  akin  to  Christ  than  a  hawk  is  to  a  dove. 
And  does  not  this  love  say,  "Thou  shalt  be  thy 
brother's  keeper?"  Does  it  not  sympathize  with  Paul 
when  he  says,  "Who  now  rejoice  in  my  sufferings  for 
you,  and  fill  up  that  which  is  behind  of  the  afflictions 
of  Christ,  in  my  flesh  for  his  body's  sake,  which  is  the 
Church."  * 

My  brethren,  love  to  our  fellowmen  should  lead  us 
to  missionary  endeavor.  That  is  the  way  the  heathen 
peoples  think  of  it.  The  duty  resting  on  us  to  give  the 
Gospel  to  the  heathen  is  not  a  "recondite  matter  of  ob- 
ligation." Listen  with  John  Eliot  to  the  Indians  at 
Natick  as  they  inquire  why  the  English  have  delayed 
so  long  to  instruct  them  in  the  knowledge  of  God. 
Hear  them  say,  "Had  you  done  it  sooner,  we  might 
have  known  much  of  God  by  this  time,  and  much  sin 
might  have  been  prevented,  but  now  some  of  us  have 
grown  old  in  sin."  * 

Hear  an  aged  warrior,  on  the  Manitoulin  Islands  in 
the  year  1840,  say  to  a  missionary,  "I  am  the  chief  of 
a  numerous  people  and  I  wish  them  to  be  instructed. 
We  have  heard  that  our  brothers  who  are  near  the 
white  settlements  have  received  the  Great  Word.  We 
have  heard  that  the  Great  Spirit  has  told  the  white 
man  to  send  the  Great  Word  to  all  his  children.  Why 
does  he  not  send  it  to  us?    I  have  been  looking  many 

*Col.  i.  24. 

*  A.  C.  Thompson,  Foreign  Missions,  p.  66;  Francis's  Life  of 
John  Eliot,  pp.  88,  89. 


200         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

moons  down  the  river  to  see  the  missionary's  canoe, 
but  it  has  not  yet  come."  f 

Listen  again  to  the  African  Sechele,  Chief  of  the 
Bakwains,  as  he  says  to  David  Livingstone :  "All  my 
forefathers  have  passed  away  into  darkness  without 
knowing  anything  of  what  was  to  befall  them ;  how 
is  it  that  your  forefathers,  knowing  all  these  things, 
did  not  send  the  word  to  my  forefathers  sooner."  % 

Go  now  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  look  on  that  aged 
woman  moving  about  in  great  distress,  beating  her 
breast  and  wailing  as  she  looks  at  thousands  of  happy 
Christian  children  gathered  at  a  great  Sunday  School 
convention  in  Hilo.  Hear  her  explain  her  grief :  "Why 
did  not  the  missionaries  come  before?  These  hands 
are  stained  with  the  blood  of  twelve  children,  and  not 
one  of  my  flesh  remains  to  rejoice  here  to-day.  Oh, 
why  did  not  the  missionaries  come  before  ?"  * 

The  unenlightened  heathen  would  seem  to  be  able 
to  teach  no  small  portion  of  Christendom  on  this  point. 
They  see  that  simple  love  to  man  should  move  us  to 
give  the  Gospel  to  them. 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  we  expound  properly 
to  ourselves  the  command  to  love  our  neighbors  as  our- 
selves. Certainly  there  is  a  radical  defect  in  most  of 
the  current  Christian  ethical  teaching  on  this  matter 
of  our  duty  to  our  heathen  neighbor.  Does  the  hearer 
know  of  a  system  of  ethics  taught  in  many  of  our  col- 

t  Robert  Adler,  Wesleyan  Missions,  London  1842,  p.  29;  A.  C. 
Thompson,  Foreign  Missions,  p.  67. 

t  Livingstone's  Cambridge  Lectures,  Lect.  i,  p.  5;  A.  C. 
Thompson,  Foreign  Missions,  p.  68. 

*Miss  West's  Romance  of  Missions,  pp.  609,  610;  A.  C. 
Thompson,  Foreign  Missions,  p.  70. 


MoTiv'ES  TO  Missionary  Endeavor  201 

leges,  or  universities  in  which  any  sufficient  emphasis 
is  laid  upon  the  subject  of  our  duty  to  our  heathen 
neighbor?  In  the  ethical  teaching  of  the  great  schools 
of  Christendom  to  this  day,  is  there  not  a  spirit  Phari- 
saic if  not  Sudducean?  Is  not  duty  to  the  heathen 
ignored?  But  according  to  the  Scriptures,  our  neigh- 
bor is  whomsoever  we  can  help.  He  is  every  man  on 
the  globe  that  we  can  reach.  To  the  lawyer  who 
thinking  to  justify  himself,  said,  "Who  is  my  neigh- 
bor?" Jesus  uttered  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan, 
and  thus  forced  the  lawyer  to  admit  that  to  be  neigh- 
borly meant  to  show  mercy  to  him  who  needed  it,  of 
whatever  race  he  might  be.  If  we  would  love  our 
neighbors  as  ourselves  then  we  must  go  to  those  races 
and  tribes  and  persons  who  have  fallen  into  helpless 
wretchedness  and  woe,  because  sorely  smitten  of  sin. 
Christian  neighborliness,  brotherly  love  should  move 
you  to  missionary  endeavor. 

3rd.  Legitimate  love  to  yourself  should  lead  you  to 
missionary  endeavor. 

The  appeal  to  self-love  is  sometimes  stigmatized, 
owing  to  a  confusion  of  self-love  with  selfishness. 
Selfishness  moves  one  to  seek  his  own  welfare  at  the 
cost  of  the  rights  of  others.  Legitimate  self-love  never 
does,  but  moves  to  seek  the  well  being  of  others  along 
with  one's  own.  That  there  is  a  legitimate  self-love 
is  evident  from  the  repeated  appeal  to  it  in  the  Deca- 
logue, tfom  the  repeated  appeals  to  it  in  the  teaching 
of  our  Lord,  as  well  as  from  the  profoundest  modern 
philosophic  teaching,  e.  g..  Bishop  Butler's.  The 
makers  of  our  Shorter  Catechism  did  well  in  giving  it 
a  place  in  their  answer  to  the  first  question :  What  is 
the  chief  end  of  man?    Thev  say,  "The  chief  end  of 


202         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

man  is'  to  glorify  God  and  to  enjoy  Him  forever." 
Happiness  is  linked  with  duty,  the  two  forming  a 
complex  end  of  the  life  of  man.  Now  our  present  point 
is  that  a  legitimate  self-love  should  move  you  to  mis- 
sionary endeavor. 

This  appears  from  the  following  considerations : 
I.     Regard  for  your  reputation  for  a  life  consistent 
with  your  profession — a  legitimate  self-interest — should 
move  you  to  missionary  endeavor. 

You  are  the  professor  of  a  religion  of  right  univer- 
sal. It  is  destined  to  be  universal  some  day.  The 
stone  which  Daniel  saw  cut  without  hands  from  the 
mountain  and  grow,  become  a  great  mountain  and  fill 
the  whole  earth,  symbolized  the  growth  of  that  king- 
dom which  Christ  set  up.  In  accord  with  that 
prophecy,  the  Church  believes,  as  the  Psalmist  as- 
serts, "that  all  the  ends  of  the  world  shall  remember 
and  turn  unto  the  Lord ;  and  all  the  kindreds  of  the 
nations  shall  remember  and  turn  unto  Him"  ;*  believes 
that  the  day  will  come  when  "they  shall  not  teach 
every  man  his  neighbor,  and  every  man  his  brother, 
saying  know  the  Lord ;  for  all  shall  know  Him  from 
the  least  to  the  greatest."  f  The  Church  begins  as  a 
grain  of  mustard  seed.  It  has  gtown  and  will  grow; 
but  meanwhile  the  Church  and  you  as  members  of  the 
Church  are  pledged  to  labor  for  its  growth.  You  have 
in  professing  Christianity  pledged  yourself  to  make 
Christ  and  His  cause  uppermost  in  your  life.  You  re- 
peat this  solemn  pledge  every  time  you  take  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and  profess  it,  as  often  as  you  in  any  way 

*  Psalm  xxii.  27. 

t  Heb.  viii.  11;  cf.  Rev.  xiv.  6. 


Motives  to  Missionary  Endeavor  203 

profess  to  be  His  disciple.  On  every  such  occasion, 
you  profess  that  you  are  one  of  those  pledged  to  follow 
Christ  in  His  supreme  love  for  God  and  Christlike  love 
for  man ;  one  of  those  pledged  therefore  to  obedience  to 
His  great  charge.  Every  time  you  repeat  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  you  pray,  too,  for  the  coming  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  How  plain  it  is  then  that  a  regard 
for  your  reputation  for  a  life  consistent  with  your  pro- 
fession should  move  you  to  missionary  endeavor. 

2.  Regard  for  your  reputation  as  humane  should 
move  you  to  missionary  endeavor. 

You  deprecate  and  abhor  inhumanity.  Our  age 
boasts  itself  as  a  humane  age ;  our  race,  as  a  humane 
race.  Among  the  most  generally  pleasing  stories  to 
our  age  are  stories  illustrating  the  humane.  What 
more  pleasing  anecdote  of  all  those  related  by  Boswell 
of  Samuel  Johnson  than  that  of  the  great  man's  carry- 
ing a  poor  and  degraded  woman,  whom  he  had  found 
lying  in  a  state  of  exhaustion  in  the  street  to  his  own 
home  and  there  caring  for  her  till  her  recovery?  Per- 
haps, no  story  of  the  great  Anselmn  has  wider  circu- 
lation than  that  of  his  protection  of  a  hare.  Who  of 
you  has  not  heard  the  story  of  General  Lee's  care,  in 
the  midst  of  a  battle,  of  a  fledgling  bird?  It  is  even 
a  fashion  to  be  humane  in  our  times.  We  have  all 
sorts  of  asylums  for  a  man  and  beasts.  We  grow  in- 
dignant at  instances  of  grave  inhumanity,  especially 
to  suffering  multitudes,  as  at  those  Russian  specula- 
tors in  grain  in  the  year  1890,  when  in  the  face  of  a 
terrible  drought,  and  widespread  poverty,  they  cornered 
the  bread  stufif;  and  made  the  famine  vastly  more  aw- 
ful to  the  poor  people ;  and  as  at  similar  speculators 
in  Russia  during  very  recent  years ;  and  during  the  last 
year  in  China. 


204         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

But  is  there  not  danger  of  our  doing  a  much  more 
dreadful  thing  than  these  Russian  and  Chinese  specula- 
tors have  done.  They  withheld  from  their  starving 
fellows  material  bread.  They  reduced  many  to  death 
by  starvation  preceded  by  unspeakable  wretchedness 
and  suffering  of  the  body  and  mind  and  heart  as  they 
looked  on  the  agonies  of  starving  dear  ones.  We  may 
easily  withhold  the  bread  of  eternal  life  and  bring  on 
them  eternal  wretchedness  and  woe  unspeakable. 

It  is  inhuman  not  to  give  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen 
in  the  presence  of  their  spiritual  famine.  The  heathen 
are  perishing  for  want  of  the  Gospel. 

Let  no  one  deny  that  the  heathen  need  the  Gospel. 
Granting  that  there  was  a  possibility  of  salvation  for 
adult  heathen  men  and  women  without  the  Gospel,  it 
would  still  be  our  duty  to  give  the  heathen  the  Gospel. 
Every  reason  which  may  be  offered  in  behalf  of  giving 
the  Gospel  to  the  world  at  home  may  be  offered  also 
for  giving  it  to  the  world  abroad.  The  man  who  will 
not  help  his  neighbor  who  has  fallen  among  thieves 
simply  because  that  neighbor  will  not  certainly  utterly 
perish  deserves  to  be  despised.  Much  more  we,  if  we 
will  not  give  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen,  even  supposing 
that  they  have  a  chance  at  salvation.  On  that  supposi- 
tion it  is  ours  to  give  them  a  better  chance.  But  no 
honest  and  candid  interpretation  of  the  Bible  favors  the 
notion  that  adult  heathen  are  saved  without  a  knowl- 
edge of  Christ.  "I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life. 
No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me,"  saith  our 
Lord.  "The  Scripture  saith  whosoever  believeth  on 
Him  shall  not  be  ashamed.  .  .  .  For  whosoever 
shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.  How 
then  shall  they  call  on  Him  in  whom  they  have  not 


Motives  to  Missionary  Endeavor  205 

believed?  And  how  shall  they  believe  in  Him  whom 
they  have  not  heard?  And  how  shall  they  hear  with- 
out a  preacher?  And  how  shall  they  preach  except 
they  be  sent?" 

These  Scriptures  present  Jesus  as  the  one  way  of 
salvation  and  some  knowledge  of  Him  as  a  necessary 
condition  of  salvation.  Moreover,  missionaries  are 
said  to  have  found  no  case  of  a  man's  having  lived 
up  to  the  light  which  he  had  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
ground  a  hope  of  his  salvation.  Hence  experimen- 
tally as  well  as  on  Biblical  grounds  the  heathen  seem 
to  stand  in  imperative  need  of  the  Gospel.  They  are 
perishing  from  want  of  it.  Hence,  from  this  point  of 
view,  if  you  would  not  be  written  down  as  inhuman, 
regard  for  your  reputation  as  humane  should  move  you 
to  missionary  endeavor. 

3.  Desire  to  preserve  our  reputation  as  persons  of 
■fidelity  and  gratitude  should  move  us  to  be  missionary. 
We  have  received  the  Gospel  and  all  Christian 
graces  on  trust  to  be  imparted  to  others.  God's  truth 
is  for  the  whole  world.  The  oil  and  wine  of  Jesus' 
teaching  is  ours  not  for  ourselves  alone,  but  for  our 
neighbors  wherever  under  heaven  they  can  be  found. 
The  bread  of  life  belongs  by  the  bequest  of  God  to 
the  world  of  men  to  whom  we  have  not  yet  given  it. 
The  bread  is  not  exclusively  ours.  God  has  entrusted 
it  to  us  that  we  may  give  light  with  it  to  all  the  world 
including  the  heathen  in  their  conscious  wretchedness. 
How  we  hate  unfaithfulness  to  trust  in  affairs  of  this 
world — unfaithfulness  in  guardians  of  orphaned  chil- 
dren, unfaithfulness  in  the  use  of  funds  given  for  speci- 
fic purposes  !  How  the  world  excoriates  a  Hippel !  But 
if  we  misemploy  that  which  God  commits  to  us  to  be 


2o6         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

used  according  to  His  own  direction  for  the  good  of 
others,  are  we  not,  Aphobuses,  Hippels,  unfaithful? 
Again,  we  are  ourselves  the  fruits  of  missionary  effort. 
The  civilization  of  European  states  and  their  offspring 
in  America  and  the  religion  of  these  peoples  would 
have  been  very  different  but  for  the  messengers  of 
the  cross.  Paul  and  the  missionaries  who  followed 
him  to  Europe  have  made  us  forever  their  debtors. 
We  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  them  and  to  that  greater 
missionary,  who  came  as  such  to  this  benighted  world. 
How  can  we  show  our  gratitude  to  these  early  mis- 
sionaries? How  except  by  taking  up  the  work  which 
they  would  undoubtedly  be  doing  were  they  alive  and 
able  to  work  this  day.  Paul  would  certainly  be  a  mis- 
sionary, desiring  to  have  fruit  amongst  this  people 
and  that,  were  he  here  unchanged  in  character.  The 
thing  that  we  must  do  to  show  our  gratitude  to  Paul 
is  to  push  the  cause  which  he  pushed;  and  we  can 
express  our  gratitude  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  better 
this  way  than  any  other.  He  will  count  work  of  this 
sort  as  though  a  favor  done  Himself  personally.  He 
will  say,  "Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  the  least 
of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  If 
we  have  any  gratitude  it  will  out,  and  how  otherwise? 
Desire,  then,  to  preserve  your  reputation  as  capable 
of  fidelity  and  of  gratitude,  and  to  escape  being  written 
down  as  ingrates,  should  move  you  to  missionary  en- 
deavor. 

4.  Desire  to  secure  the  helpful  reflex  influence  from 
it,  upon  yourselves,  and  upon  the-  people  of  your 
Churches  should  lead  you  to  missionary  endeavor. 

In  order  to  such  missionary  effort  as  was  enjoined 
by  Christ  upon  His  Church,  you  must  have  informa- 


Motives  to  Missionary  Endeavor  207 

tion  and  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Church  must  have  in- 
formation. The  obligations  to  the  work  must  be  kept 
before  the  mind,  the  principles  on  which  Christ  would 
have  it  conducted  must  be  kept  before  the  mind,  the 
opportunities,  and  open  door,  for  such  effort,  must  be 
kept  before  the  mind,  the  world's  sore  need  must  be 
kept  before  the  mind.  If  you  get  and  give  the  needed 
information,  press  the  motives  to,  expound  the  princi- 
ples on  which,  missions  should  be  conducted,  present 
the  special  openings  for,  it  will  give  you,  and  all  whom 
you  specially  influence,  an  intellectual  and  moral 
quickening,  making  them  look  on  all  historic  move- 
ments with  greater  zest,  and  intelligence ;  it  will  give 
a  higher  tone  and  vigor  to  your  whole  mental  life. 
When  you  have  become  a  pastor,  you  will  have  done  no 
mean  thing  when  you  have  lifted  a  congregation  above 
a  consideration  of  its  own  small  local  matters  and 
made  it  look  upon  its  commission  from  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  world-wide,  when  you  have  made  it  see  that 
God  has  given  to  it  a  glorious  task — a  work  which 
angels  might  well  aspire  to  do.  Think  of  the  peasant 
Church  of  Hermansburg,  Hanover,  Germany,  under 
the  leadership  of  Louis  Harms — establishing  a  theolo- 
gical school  for  the  education  of  missionaries,  build- 
ing a  ship  to  carry  its  missionaries  to  Africa,  planting 
eight  vigorous  colonies  in  that  savage  field,  pushing 
missions  over  a  wide  territory,  "reaching  from  the 
Zulus  on  the  coast  to  the  Bechuanas  in  the  centre,  and 
from  Orange  River  to  Lake  Nyami."  *  What  a  men- 
tal and  moral  growth  must  have  taken  place  in  that 
congregation !    Moreover  if  you  will  lead  your  people 

*  Hoppin,  Pastoral  Theology,  p.  533. 


2o8         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

to  active  missionary  work,  you  will  give  them  more 
comfort,  perhaps,  than  if  you  shall  preach  ever  so  much 
on  the  consolation  of  the  Gospel  for  all  those  who 
mourn.  Hear  the  testimony  of  old  Andrew  Fuller  on 
this  question.  'There  was  a  period  of  my  ministry," 
says  Andrew  Fuller,  "marked  by  the  most  pointed, 
systematic  effort  to  comfort  my  serious  people ;  but 
the  more  I  tried  to  comfort  them,  the  more  they  com- 
plained of  doubts  and  darkness.  ...  I  knew  not 
what  to  do  nor  what  to  think ;  for  I  had  done  my  best 
to  comfort  these  mourners  in  Zion.  At  this  time  it 
pleased  God  to  direct  my  attention  to  the  claims  of  the 
perishing  heathen  in  India.  I  felt  that  we  had  been 
living  for  ourselves  and  not  caring  for  their  souls.  I 
spoke  as  I  felt.  My  serious  people  wondered  and  wept 
over  their  past  inattention  to  the  subject.  They  be- 
gan to  talk  about  a  Baptist  mission.  The  females 
especially  began  to  collect  money  for  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel.  We  met  and  prayed  for  the  heathen ;  met 
and  considered  what  could  be  done  amongst  ourselves 
for  them ;  met  and  did  what  we  could.  And  whilst  all 
this  was  going  on,  the  lamentation  ceased.  The  sad 
became  cheerful  and  the  despairing  calm.  No  one  com- 
plained of  want  of  comfort.  And  I,  instead  of  having 
to  study  how  to  comfort  my  flock,  was  myself  com- 
forted by  them.  They  were  drawn  out  of  themselves, 
sir;  that  was  the  real  secret.  God  blessed  them  while 
they  tried  to  be  a  blessing."  * 

Honest  genuine  missionary  work  gives  a  Christ- 
like conception  of  truth,  duty,  man,  and  God,  and 
Christlike  habits  of  character.  Engage  in  it  you  will 
confirm  your  faith  and  your  people's  faith.     As  you 

*  Quoted  in  A.  C.  Thompson,  Foreign  Missions,  pp.  28,  29. 


Motives  to  Missionary  Endeavor  209 

throw  yourselves  into  line  with  one  of  God's  great  pur- 
poses, you  will  come  under  the  influence  of  a  powerful 
persuasive  of  the  truth  of  Christianity.  There  shall 
be  verified  in  your  experience  the  truth  of  that  saying 
of  our  Lord,  "If  any  man  will  do  His  will  he  shall 
know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God !"  f 

Our  limits  do  not  allow  the  full  development  of 
the  present  point.  What  has  been  said  may  suggest 
a  volume  of  what  might  be  said  along  parallel  lines 
in  confirmation  of  the  value  of  the  reflex  influence  of 
missionary  efifort  on  the  Church.  In  pushing  this 
work  properly  you  will  be  at  the  same  time  lifting  your- 
self and  the  Church  in  the  home-land  in  the  sphere  of 
your  influence.  You  will  be  enlarging  mentally,  mor- 
ally, and  spiritually,  your  length,  and  breadth  and 
heighth  and  depth,  and  that  of  your  Church.  You  will 
be  transforming  by  the  power  of  the  truth  and  the  truth 
applied,  yourselves  and  your  churches. 

Let  this  suffice  to  confirm  the  present  contention 
that,  desire  to  secure  the  helpful  reflex  influence  from 
it  upon  yourselves,  and  the  Christian  peoples  whom 
you  are  in  any  wise  responsible  for,  should  lead  you 
to  missionary  endeavor. 

5.  Desire  to  put  yourself  into  the  ranks  of  the 
noblest  heroes  of  flie  ages  should  lead  you  to  be 
missionary. 

There  are  no  names  on  the  pages  of  secular  history 
brighter  than  those  of  the  missionaries,  Paul.  Schwartz, 
William  Carey,  Henry  Martin,  David  Livingstone, 
Moffat,  MacKay,  and  others.  They  were  heroes,  and 
their  heroism  has  qualities  rarely  found  in  that  of  secu- 
lar history's  most  splendid  and  heroic  men. 

t  John    vii.    17. 


2IO         Introduction  to  Christian  Missions 

The  self-denying  worker  for  the  mission  cause 
though  he  spend  all  his  days  "in  the  home-land,  may 
develop  the  same  shining  qualities.  The  genuine  mis- 
sionary spirit  must  work  in  all,  who  are  filled  with  it, 
somewhat  of  the  same  character.  Hence  the  desire  to 
put  yourselves  into  the  ranks  of  the  noblest  body  of 
heroes  known  to  history  should  move  you  to  mis- 
sionary endeavor. 

6.  The  desire  to  preserve  your  sense  of  right  should 
lead  you  to  missionary  endeavor. 

Righteousness  says,  Don't  be  a  hypocrite,  profes- 
sing to  be  walking  after  your  Lord's  commands  when 
you  are  not.  Righteousness  says.  Be  faithful  to  the 
trust  committed  to  our  hands.  Righteousness  says, 
Don't  be  an  ingrate  but  be  grateful.  Righteousness 
says.  Don't  fail  of  self-sacrificing  love.  Righteousness 
says,  Emulate  noble  example.  Righteousness  says, 
Don't  be  inhumane,  be  humane. 

How  can  you  preserve  your  sense  of  right,  now, 
without  heeding  the  "don'ts"  and  the  "do"  of  righteous- 
ness ;  and  this  sense  of  right  must  be  preserved  in  or- 
der to  the  highest  manhood. 

7.  Desire  to  meet  your  responsibilities  should  lead 
you  to  missionary  endeavor. 

Our  light  is  the  fullest,  the  command  of  God  to  dis- 
ciple all  nations  rings  with  unmistakable  clearness.  We 
have  the  amplest  opportunities.  The  world,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  the  central  plateau  of  Asia,  lies 
open  to  the  missionaries  of  the  cross.  Communication 
is  easy.  Steamships,  railways,  and  telegraph  lines  have 
reduced  the  earth  to  the  dimensions  of  a  neighborhood. 
Enormous  wealth  and  power  have  been  put  into  the  hands' 
of  the  Church,  in  your  hands  to  some  extent,  which  may 


Motives  to  Missionary  Endeavor  211 

be  applied  to  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  world.  To 
whom  the  Lord  giveth  much,  of  him  will  he  also  require 
much.  Everything  in  God's  part  toward  you  that  calls 
for  fidelity,  for  gatitude,  for  self-sacrificing  love,  for  the 
emulation  of  noble  examples,  of  Christian  living,  every- 
thing, severally,  and  all  together,  lay  a  heavy  responsi- 
bility upon  you  to  give  yourselves'  to  missionary  endeavor. 
God  help  you  to  meet  the  responsibility  aright.   Amen. 


INDEX, 


Page. 
Aim  of  Mission  Effort: 

In    Apostolic    Age $1 

In    Ante-Nicene    Age 74 

In    Post-Nicene    Age 82,83 

In    Mediaeval    Age 92,  93 

In   Modern    Roman    Missions 115,116 

In    Protestant   Missions 140,    169,  183 

American   Baptist   Missionary   Society 166 

American  Bible  Society 166,  167 

American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  165,  166 

Anselm    91 

Ansgar 96 

Armstrong,   Dr.   Wm 195 

Augustine    76,  96 

Augustines    126 

Berengar  91 

Bliss,  E.  M.,  quoted 71 

Boniface    96 

Brainherd    150,  165 

British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 166 

British   East   India   Company 151,  152 

Bucer,  Martin 131 

Calvin   127,  133,  136 

Calvinists , 136,  148 

"Cambridge    Seven,"   The 181 

Carey,  William, 

14,  98,  150,  152,  154,  ff.,  164,  165,  166,  167,  168,  187,  190,  209 

Celsus    78 

Chalmers,  Thomas  172,  190,  191 

Charles  Martel    96 

Christian,  Obscure,  Part  in  Missions 41,  78,  79,  95 


214  Index 

Christians  of  To-day : 

Under  Obligation  to  Missions 24,  25,  66-68 

How  Meeting  the  Obligation 68,  69 

Church,  The,  Ordained  of  God  to  be  a  Missionary  Society,  9,  ff 

The  Members  of,   Pledged  to  Mission  Endeavor 24,  25 

Of  Right,  The,  Missionary  Society 11-29 

Should  Know  the  Truth 46,  47 

Preach  the  Truth  uneviscerated 47,  48 

Learn  the  Religious   Condition  of  Various   Parts   of  the 

World    48,  49 

Select  its  Instruments  for  the  Several  Parts  of  its  Witness- 
bearing    SO,  51 

Work  for  the  Most  Effective  Additions 51 

May  Suffer  for  Lagging 51,  52 

Lost  the  Consciousness  of  Being  Missionary 86 

Began  to   Become   Conscious   of   Itself   as   a   Missionary 

Society    171,  ff. 

Church,  The  Apostolic,  the  Four  Periods  in  the  Life  of 33.  ff- 

Church,  Dutch   Reformed    176,  I77 

Church,  The  Free,  of  Scotland 178,  179 

Church,  The  German  Reformed,  1865. 178 

Church,    The,    of   Scotland,    First   to    Become    Conscious    of 

Itself  as  a  Missionary  Society 171,   172,  178 

Church,    The   Presbyterian,    Its    Polity   Adopted   to   Mission 

Work    180 

Church,    The    Presbyterian    Church,    South,     Committed     to 

Missions   25,  26,  176,   177,  178 

Church,  The  Presbyterian,  in  U.  S.  A 172,  173-176 

Church,  The  United  Presbyterian 176 

Church,   The   United   Presbyterian   of   Scotland 179 

Church  Missionary  Society 163 

Coan,  Titus 185,  186,  191 

Coke,  Thomas  164 

Coligny    135 

Columba  76,  86 

Columbanus    96 

Converts  Won: 

In  Apostolic  and  in  Ante-Nicene  Age 79,  80 

In  Post-Nicene  Age  87,  88 


Index  215 

Converts  Won  : — Continued. 

In  Mediaeval  Age   103-104 

In  Modern  Romish  Missions 126,  127 

In  Protestant  Missions    192,  193 

Covenant.  Abrahamic,  The  Missionary   Character  of 10,  flf. 

Crusades   97 

Cyrillus    97 

Danish-Halle    Mission    145,  146 

Dawn  of  Modern  Missions 141,  flf. 

Dispersion,  The  Synogogues  of  Missionary  Centres 16 

Dionysius    TJ 

Dispensation,  Mosaic,  Missionary  Character  of 11,  fif. 

Dominicans    79,   118,   123,   125,  126 

Dufif   172,    190,  191 

Edesius   86 

Edinburgh  Missionary  Society   162,  163 

Edwards,  Jonathan   150,   165,  167 

Eliot,  John   138-140,  165,  199 

Ephesus    61-64 

Erasmus's  Missionary  Ideal 106-113 

Eusebius    76,  77 

Fabian     "^-j 

Fox    150 

Franciscans    97,   119,   123,   125,  126 

Francis  of  Assisi    97 

Francke    145-147 

Frumentius    86 

Fuller,  Andrew  208 

Callus    96 

Gilmour,  James   185,  191 

Glasgow  Missionary  Society   163 

Gossner    195 

Gregory,  the  Armenian   86 

Gregory  of  Tours   TJ 

Gregory  the  Great  96 

Huss  91 

Hoppin 207 

Inglis   172 


2i6  Index 

Instruments  in  Mission  Work: 

In  Apostolic  Age    46,-  47 

In  Ante-Nicene  Age  75 

In  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Age 84 

In  Mediaeval  Age   94 

In  Modern  Romish  Missions   117-119 

In  Protestant  Missions   140,  169,  184,  185 

Interdenominational   Movements    181,  182 

Irenaeus    ^^ 

Jesuits  119-121,  122.  123-125,  126 

John  de  Monte  Corvino 97 

Jonah,  The  Mission  of 12,  13 

Judson,  Adoniram 165.  166,  191 

Justin  Martyr  78,  80 

Keith- Falconer,  Ion  191 

Keswick    182,  190 

Knox,  John    I34 

Ko-Chat-Thing    198 

Las.   Casas,  Bartholomew   125 

Law,  The  Mosaic,  Missionary   1 1,  ff. 

Laymen's  Missionary  Movement    182 

Leibnitz     144 

Livingstone,  David   162,  191,  200,  209 

London  Missionary  Society   160-162 

Lull,    Raymund    98  ff. 

Luther  127,  130,  131,  132 

Lutherans   132,  133,  134,   142-148,  163 

Mackay.  Alexander  Murdoch  191,  209 

Mackay,  George  Leslie 191,  209 

McKenzie,  John  Kenneth   191 

Marshman    156,    157,  158 

Martin,  Henry   150,  209 

Melancthon    131,  132 

Methodius    97 

Methods  in  Mission  Work : 

In  Apostolic  Age    Si,  52 

In  Ante-Nicene  Age    75-76 

In  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Age 84-86 

In  Mediaeval  Age   94,  95 


Index  217 

Methods  in  Mission  Work: — Continued. 

In  Modern  Romish  Missions 119- 123 

In  Protestant  Missions  140,  169,  185-190 

Miesrob    86 

Mills,    Samuel   J 165 

Missions :     Apostolic,  30,  ff.,  71,  ^2 

Patristic    70,  ff. 

Nicene   and    Post-Nicene 81,  ff. 

Nestorian    88,  89 

Mediaeval,  91,  ff. 

Modern  Roman  Missions    1 13,  ft". 

Attitude    of    Protestant    and    Reformed,     1517-1781,    to- 
ward     128,  ff. 

Dutch  State  Missions   136,  148 

Danish-Halle,    145,  ft'. 

Moravian  Missions  146,  ft'. 

By  the  Great  Voluntary  Missionary  Societies 154,  ff. 

The  Church  Conscious  of  Obligation  to  Missions 171-193 

Missions,  Grounds  of  Obligation  to 9,  ff.,  55,  ff.,  66,  ff. 

Moffat,  Robert    161,    162,  209 

Mohammed    88 

Moody    181,  182 

Moravian  Missions   146,   159,  191 

Morrison,  Robert  161 

Motives  to  Missionary  Endeavor 194,  ff. 

Nestorian    Misssions    88.  89 

New  Testament,  Missionary  Character  of 18 

Nobili,   Robert   de    118 

Opening  of  the  World  to  Missions 136-138,  151-153,  192-193 

Origen    78 

Pantaenus    7(>,  77 

Patrick    76,  86 

Paul,   Prepared  for  Missions , 44 

Called  to  Antioch  45 

His  Sense  of  His  Obligation  to  Missions 53-59 

His    Characteristics    57,  58 

Way  in  Which  He  Responded  to  His  Obligation  to  Mis- 
sions     59-66 

Penn    150 


2i8  Index 

Peter,  Prepared  for  Missions   44 

Pietists    144,    145,  159 

Plato,    Statesman,   quoted 54,  78 

Pledge,  The  Missionary  Pledge  of  the  Church  Member 26,  27 

Pliny   65 

Plutschan    145 

Pratt,  Josiah    163 

Principle,  To  Regulate  the  Church's  Missionary  Effort 30,  ff. 

Especially    45,  46 

Illustrated  in  Paul's  Labors 59,  66 

Not  Much  Attended  to  in  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Age,  83,  84 

Nor  in  Mediaeval  Age    93 

Nor  in  Modern  Romish  Missions 116,  117 

More   Attended   to    in    Protestant   Missions 183,  184 

Propaganda,  Institutions  of  Romish 125,  126 

Prophets,  Missionary   14 

Providence,  Making  the  Church  Missionary 

23,  41,  ff.,  138,  152,  153 

Psalms,  Missionary  13 

Quakers    150 

Ratramnus    91 

Religious  Tract  Society  166 

Ricci    119 

Rice,  John  Holt 173 

Overture  of   173-176 

Richier     135 

Robertson,   Frederick  W 35 

Ryland    160 

Samaria,  Apostolic  Missions  in  42,  flf. 

Saravia,   Adrian    134,  135 

Saturnin    ^^ 

Schaff,  Philip,  quoted  78 

Schwartz   145,  146,   151,  209 

Scott,  Thomas   163 

Scottish  Confession   I34 

Sechele  200 

Sergius    88 

Smith,  George,  quoted  103,  106,  flf. 

Society,  For  the    Propagation    of    the    Gospel    in    Foreign 

Parts    150,  164 


Index  219 

Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  New  England,  139 
Society  in   Scotland   for   Propagating   Christian  Knowledge,  150 

Societies,  Volunteer  Missionary 27,  154,  ff. 

Spener    144 

Spirit,  The  Holy,  Makes  the  Church  Missionary 21 

Strategy   in   Mission   Work: 

In  Apostolic  Age   48-50 

In  Ante-Nicene  Age   74,  75 

In    Post-Nicene   Age 83,  84 

In  Mediaeval  Missions  93 

In  Modern  Romish  Missions   116,  117 

In  Protestant  Missions  .  ..  .140,  141,  147,  148,  157,  158,  183,  184 

Student  Volunteer  Missionary  Union 181,  182,  190 

Taylor,  J.  Hudson  181 

Territory  Overrun  by  Missions  : 

In  Apostolic  Age  45,  59,  60 

In  Ante-Nicene  Age   80,  81 

In  Post-Nicene  Age   86,  87,  89 

In  Mediaeval  Age 104,  105 

In  Modern  Romish  Missions 127 

In  Protestant  Missions  192-193 

Tertullian    78.  80 

Theory,  of  the  Christian  System: 

In  Ante-Nicene  Age  73,  74 

In   Post-Nicene  Age    81,  82 

In  Mediaeval  Age    91,  92 

In  Modern  Romish  Missions   114,  H5 

In  Protestant  Missions   128-136,  183 

Thomas,  John    155 

Thompson,  A.  C,  Foreign  Missions 195,  198,  199,  200,  208 

Udney    156 

Urban   VIII 126 

Ursinus,  Joh.   Heinrich    144 

Vasa,  Gustavus  133 

Venn,  Henry   163 

Versions  Made  in  Interest  of  Missions: 

In  Ante-Nicene  Age  75 

In  Post-Nicene  Age 85 

In  Mediaeval  Age  94 

In  Protestant  Missions,   186.  187 


220  Index 

Villegagnon    135 

Warneck    141,  182 

Ward   156,  157,  iS8 

Wellesly,  Marquis  of   157 

Welz,  Von   142,  144 

Wesleyan  Missionary  Society   164 

Wilder    181 

Williams,   John    161,  170 

Willibrod    96 

Wilson,  John  163 

Winfrid   96 

Workers  in  Missions : 

In  Apostolic  Age 21,  22,  44,  45 

In  Patristic  Age  78,  86,  87 

In  Mediaeval  Age   95,  9^>  ff • 

In  Modern  Romish  Missions   123-125 

In  Protestant  Missions   19O)  ff- 

Wycliffe    91 

Xavier    119-121,    124,  125 

Ziegenbolg    I45.  H7 

Zinzindorf    146,  I47 

Zwemer,  Samuel  M.,  quoted  99-100,  loi,  102,  103 


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